Energy Dept. Instructs Employees to Gather Info on Deals with Law Firms

The Department of Energy instructed employees to gather information on business dealings between government contractors and law firms caught in President Donald Trump’s cross hairs, according to emails obtained by Lawfare.  The directive, which has since been rescinded, likely ran afoul of court orders barring portions of Trump’s executive orders targeting the firms.

In an email sent on the afternoon of April 7, an official in the agency’s Office of Acquisition Management directed designated employees in charge of government contracts to “reach out to their contractors to ascertain whether the contractors have business dealings or contractual arrangement” with specified law firms. The email included an attached spreadsheet for employees to input information about the contractors’ disclosures regarding their dealings with the law firms.

Among the listed law firms were several that have been targeted in recent months by Trump’s punitive executive orders, including WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, and Covington & Burling. The executive orders sought to retaliate against the firms—each of which previously employed or represented Trump’s perceived political enemies—by jeopardizing their ability to represent government contractors and by limiting their access to federal buildings, among other measures. 

Some of the firms—WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Perkins Coie—are challenging the legality of the executive orders in federal court, where three judges have already issued separate rulings that block most of the restrictions.  All three judges have blocked the implementation of an identical provision included in the orders, which would have required government contractors “to disclose any business they do” with the firms.

One of the temporary restraining orders, issued by Judge John D. Bates on March 28 specifically directed the Trump administration to immediately “communicate to every recipient of a request for disclosure of any relationship with Jenner & Block LLP…that such request is rescinded until further Order of the court.”  Judge Bates further ordered the government to “cease making such requests for disclosure.”

The Department of Energy sent the email instructing employees to seek disclosure of their contractors’ dealings with Jenner & Block more than a week after Judge Bates entered his order barring such requests.

Two days after announcing the directive, however, agency officials quickly moved to rescind it. On Wednesday afternoon, an official with the Office of Acquisition Management sent a follow-up email: “Because of pending litigation, we are hereby rescinding that request for information,” the official wrote in an email reviewed by Lawfare. “Specifically, please cease making any further inquiries to contractors as to firms with whom they engage in legal or lobbying efforts.” 

The email sent on Wednesday instructed employees to “advise any contractor who was contacted but which has not yet responded that they do not need to respond to the request.” It also said that responses received from contractors “should not be utilized and are to be forwarded to the Office of General Counsel, pending further proceedings in the litigation.”  

It’s unclear how many contractors received disclosure requests before the instruction was rescinded. 

Read the text of the April 7, 2025, email below: 

Good afternoon,

The DOE Office of General Counsel asked that the following request be sent to Heads of Contracting Activities.

Please request that your Contracting Officers reach out to their contractors to ascertain whether the contractors have business dealings or contractual arrangement with the following law and lobbying firms: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale): Jenner & Block LLP (Jenner); Perkins Coie LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; or any other law and lobbying firms that are principally based in Washington, DC.

For those contracts for which you have HCA responsibility, please complete the attached table by April 11, 2025.

And read the text of the April 9, 2025, email rescinding the earlier directive below: 

You have previously received an email requesting information on your use of certain Washington, DC based law firms and lobbying groups, including but not limited to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Perkins Coie LLP, Covington & Burling LLP, and Jenner & Block LLP. Because of pending litigation, we are hereby rescinding that request for information.

Specifically, please cease making any further inquiries to contractors as to firms with whom they engage in legal or lobbying efforts. Also, please advise any contractor who was contacted but which has not yet responded that they do not need to respond to the request. Any responses to the request that have been received should not be utilized and are to be forwarded to the Office of General Counsel, pending further proceedings in the litigation.