U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who called the executive order an attack on the American judicial system, said Trump's directive “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.”

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell's ruling was the first deciding the legal merits of any of the several directives Trump has aimed at law firms.

The Justice Department is struggling to represent President Donald Trump’s positions in court. The department last week suffered losses that dealt a setback to the Republican administration’s agenda.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said on Thursday attacks by Republican President Donald Trump and his allies on judges were "not random" and seemed "designed to intimidate the judiciary.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a standing ovation on Thursday after denouncing the Trump administration’s “relentless attacks” on federal judges, calling them a threat to the rule of law.