in effect
This is Executive Order 14244, signed March 21, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2025. It is a presidential order whose main operative action is to cancel an earlier executive order. Specifically, it revokes Executive Order 14237 (“Addressing Risks from Paul Weiss”), which had been signed one week earlier on March 14, 2025.
The order formally repeals Executive Order 14237 in full, so whatever that prior order directed against the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss) no longer applies. The order states this reversal follows the firm agreeing to a set of policy changes, which it lists: adopting political neutrality in choosing clients and hiring attorneys; taking on pro bono work across the political spectrum; committing to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention rather than diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies; and dedicating the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services during the President’s term for causes including assisting veterans, fairness in the justice system, and combating anti-Semitism. The order also references the firm acknowledging wrongdoing by a former partner, Mark Pomerantz. The order includes standard boilerplate stating it does not expand agency authority, must be carried out consistent with existing law and available funding, and creates no legal rights anyone can enforce in court.
The most directly affected party is the law firm Paul Weiss, which is released from the earlier order that had targeted it. Federal agencies that would have implemented Executive Order 14237 are also affected, because that order is now void and no longer directs any action. The document frames the listed firm commitments (including the $40 million pro bono pledge) as affecting the causes and communities those services are meant to support, though the order itself does not create any legally enforceable obligation.