A federal judge in California has granted Alibaba Group preliminary relief from a Pentagon contracting rule that threatened to narrow the company’s access to Washington lobbyists.
US District Judge Eumi K. Lee ordered the government not to deny Department of Defense contracts to companies merely because they, their parents or their subsidiaries use lobbying firms that also represent Alibaba. The order preserves Alibaba’s ability to retain advisers whose other clients include defence contractors while the company’s broader challenge proceeds.
The ruling is interim. It does not remove Alibaba from the Defense Department’s list of companies said to contribute to China’s military-industrial base, and it does not decide whether the designation itself was lawful. Alibaba denies military ties and says its retail, logistics and enterprise-technology businesses are civilian.
The distinction matters because the listing has consequences beyond direct procurement. It limits Pentagon contracts with designated companies, and a wider restriction on defence contractors’ purchases of their products and services is due to take effect in 2027. Alibaba argues that the lobbying restriction compounds those effects by pressuring firms to choose between representing the company and serving defence-sector clients.
Lee’s order addresses that immediate pressure without resolving Alibaba’s claims under the Administrative Procedure Act and the First and Fifth Amendments. The case remains active in the Northern District of California, where the court heard argument on the preliminary-injunction request in August and took the matter under submission.
The decision also leaves the government free to defend the underlying listing on the administrative record. For now, the practical result is narrower: Pentagon contractors cannot be penalised solely because a shared lobbying firm also works for Alibaba.
View the official court docket entry
