By Mike Scarcella and David Thomas
March 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department plans to abandon its appeals of court rulings that struck down executive orders by President Donald Trump targeting four prominent law firms, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The Trump administration is expected to withdraw its challenge this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where it faced a Friday deadline to make arguments in lawsuits brought by law firms Jenner
& Block, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie and Susman Godfrey.
Trump issued the executive orders early last year, accusing the law firms of engaging in workplace discrimination in the name of diversity and "weaponizing" the justice system against him and his allies.
The orders sought to restrict the firms' access to federal buildings and to end government contracts held by their clients, citing the firms' connections to his legal and political enemies.
Four federal judges — appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents — struck down the orders last year, finding they violated the firms' free speech rights and other protections under the U.S. Constitution.
The White House referred a request for comment on the status of the appeal to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond. Spokespeople for the law firms declined to comment.
The decision to drop the appeals would mark a significant courtroom retreat for Trump, whose orders punishing the firms roiled the legal industry and sparked cries that the president sought to chill attorney independence and neuter potential legal challenges to his agenda by the private bar.
The administration has argued that the executive orders were lawful under the president’s broad executive powers.
Nine prominent law firms, including Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis, settled with the White House last year to rescind or avoid similar actions against them by the administration.
The firms as part of those deals cumulatively pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to mutually agreed causes with the White House. They have defended agreements as being aligned with their principles.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington, David Thomas in Chicago, and Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru. Andrew Goudsward contributed additional reporting from Washington. Editing by David Bario and Stephen Coates)
