The Trump administration is aiming to boot a federal judge off a legal showdown involving a high-profile Democratic law firm, claiming she’s too hostile to give their case a fair shake.
In a new court filing, Justice Department officials targeted U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, arguing her impartiality is compromised due to what they described as a consistent track record of animosity toward Donald Trump. They pointed to her past decisions and public remarks, especially those tied to prosecutions related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
“This Court has not kept its disdain for President Trump secret,” the filing states. “It has voiced its thoughts loudly—both inside and outside the courtroom.”
The motion comes in response to Howell’s recent decision to temporarily freeze enforcement of Trump’s controversial executive order that targeted Perkins Coie—a Seattle-based law firm with deep ties to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s past campaigns. The order sought to bar the firm from working with federal contractors and block its lawyers from accessing government buildings or speaking with officials.
Howell, appointed by President Obama, has been openly critical of efforts to undermine the rule of law in the wake of the 2020 election. She previously condemned Trump’s post-election pardons of January 6 defendants, describing them as fueling a “revisionist myth” and celebrating “poor losers” who refused to accept the election outcome.
Her decisions have often loomed large in legal actions tied to Trump, including a ruling that compelled a former Trump lawyer to testify before a grand jury in a case centered on classified documents—a case that has since been dismissed.
With the courts serving as a key check on Trump’s push to flex presidential muscle, his administration’s demand for Howell’s disqualification signals a broader campaign to chip away at judicial resistance. No comment yet from the D.C. court’s spokesperson, leaving this latest legal drama hanging in midair.
