Executive Order 14237 explained · Executive Order · Revoked
Addressing Risks From Paul Weiss
Signed: 2025-03-14 Published: 2025-03-20 Federal Register document: 2025-04867
Agencies: Executive Office of the President
Federal Register notes (as of 2026-10-19): See: EO 14147, January 20, 2025; EO 14230, March 6, 2025 Revoked by: EO 14244, March 21, 2025
What Executive Order 14237 says
Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 53 (Thursday, March 20, 2025) [Federal Register Volume 90, Number 53 (Thursday, March 20, 2025)] [Presidential Documents] [Pages 13039-13041] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2025-04867] Presidential Documents Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 53 / Thursday, March 20, 2025 / Presidential Documents [[Page 13039]] Executive Order 14237 of March 14, 2025 Addressing Risks From Paul Weiss By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Background. Global law firms have for years played an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles. Many have engaged in activities that make our communities less safe, increase burdens on local businesses, limit constitutional freedoms, and degrade the quality of American elections. Additionally, they have sometimes done so on behalf of clients, pro bono, or ostensibly ``for the public good''--potentially depriving those who cannot otherwise afford the benefit of top legal talent the access to justice deserved by all. My Administration will no longer support taxpayer funds sponsoring such harm. My Administration has already taken action to address some of the significant risks and egregious conduct...
Opening of the official text; read it in full in the Federal Register.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Fails constitutional review
Graded 2026-10-14
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
Executive Order 14237 constitutes a direct and punitive use of executive power against a specific private law firm and its employees, based on the firm's representation of clients and its attorneys' past professional conduct. It violates the First Amendment (retaliation for protected speech and association), the Fifth Amendment (deprivation of liberty and property interests without due process, and bill of attainder), and the Sixth Amendment (right to counsel). The order also exceeds the President's enumerated powers by imposing sanctions and restrictions not authorized by statute, and it consolidates decision-making at the federal level in a manner that undermines individual sovereignty and the rule of law.
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✗ Concern · Enumerated powers
The President's authority to issue executive orders derives from Article II and must be grounded in statutory or constitutional authority. This order purports to act under 'the Constitution and the laws of the United States,' but it cites no specific statutory authorization for the sweeping measures it imposes—suspending security clearances, terminating contracts, restricting access to federal bui… -
✗ Concern · Bill of Rights
The order violates multiple amendments. First Amendment: It retaliates against Paul Weiss and its attorneys for engaging in protected speech and association—specifically, the firm's pro bono representation in a lawsuit related to January 6, 2021, and the hiring of Mark Pomerantz, who was involved in a prosecution of the President. This is viewpoint-based discrimination and a prior restraint on the… -
✗ Concern · Individual sovereignty
The order restricts the ability of individuals—both the attorneys at Paul Weiss and their clients—to engage in lawful professional conduct and to obtain legal representation. It imposes government sanctions on private citizens based on their association with a particular firm, without any showing of wrongdoing by the individuals affected. This is a classic violation of individual sovereignty: the … -
✗ Concern · Decentralization
This order fails all four questions of the decentralization test. (1) Individuals and families cannot handle this—the order is a federal government action targeting a specific private entity; it is not a matter that individuals or families could resolve. (2) Local communities or counties cannot handle this—the order involves federal security clearances, federal contracts, and federal buildings, wh… -
✗ Concern · Due process and takings
The order deprives Paul Weiss and its employees of property and liberty interests—security clearances, government contracts, access to federal buildings, and employment opportunities—without any procedural due process. There is no notice, no hearing, no impartial adjudicator, and no opportunity to contest the allegations. The order is punitive in nature and operates as a bill of attainder, which i…
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