in effect
This is a presidential executive order (Executive Order 14263, signed April 9, 2025, published in the Federal Register April 15, 2025). It directs federal agencies to take a series of actions against the law firm Susman Godfrey LLP, based on the President’s stated determination that the firm poses risks and conflicts of interest. It sits alongside similar earlier orders targeting other law firms.
The order tells agencies to immediately suspend any active security clearances held by Susman Godfrey personnel while a review decides whether those clearances serve the national interest, and to stop providing the firm government goods, services, and facilities (including secure intelligence rooms known as SCIFs). Contracting agencies are directed to require their contractors to disclose any business they do with the firm, to review all such contracts, and to terminate contracts where the firm was hired to perform services, to the extent the law allows. Within 30 days, agencies must report to the Office of Management and Budget on those contracts and any actions taken. The order also directs agencies to limit the firm’s employees from entering federal buildings and interacting with government staff where that would threaten national security, and to avoid hiring the firm’s employees unless the agency head grants a waiver. As stated reasons, the order cites the firm’s alleged role in litigation and elections, its funding of certain groups, and a program it runs that the order says offers awards and jobs only to “students of color,” which the order characterizes as unlawful race discrimination.
Susman Godfrey LLP, its employees, and individuals at the firm holding security clearances are directly affected, as are the firm’s clients and any companies that do business with it and also hold or seek federal contracts. Federal agencies — led by the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management — carry out the reviews, disclosures, and contract actions. The order says it creates no legal rights anyone can enforce in court and must be carried out consistent with existing law and available funding.