Seattle-founded Perkins Coie has long drawn criticism from Trump allies over its prior work for Trump's 2016 Democratic election opponent Hillary Clinton.
White House officials were also critical of the firm's involvement in cases challenging Trump administration policies, as well as what it said were instances of racial discrimination at the firm.
Perkins Coie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump last week signed a similar order against another prominent law firm, Covington & Burling.
In that order, security clearances were revoked for lawyers who provided free assistance to Jack Smith, the former U.S. special counsel who oversaw two criminal prosecutions against Trump. The president also directed federal agencies to review any contracts they have with Covington.
Perkins Coie and Covington are among nearly a dozen major U.S. law firms representing clients in lawsuits against the Trump administration, challenging executive actions related to immigration, transgender rights and other issues.
Perkins is involved in two lawsuits against the Trump administration, including one in Seattle federal court that challenges the White House's move to restrict transgender people from serving in the military.
Reporters were invited into the Oval Office as Trump signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie.
"This executive order will suspend security clearances and access to certain federal resources for that law firm and also launch a holistic review of unlawful DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) practices at some of the nation's largest law firms," said a Trump aide, Will Scharf.
The aide said the probe would cover some 15 law firms.
"Your administration has made it a priority both to end lawfare and weaponization of government, and also to hold those who engaged in lawfare accountable," he said. "One of the law firms that has been involved in that is called Perkins Coie; that's also a law firm that is engaged in unlawful DEI practices."
Trump said it was "an absolute honor to sign."
White House officials later said the clearances of individuals at the firm that allow them to access classified government materials would be suspended "pending a review of whether their access to sensitive information is consistent with the national interest."
They said federal agencies would refrain from hiring the employees "unless specifically authorized" and block business with contractors that work with Perkins Coie because of their involvement in "partisan lawsuits against the United States."
The law firm's practices would be reviewed to ensure compliance with laws against racial bias, a White House official said, and agencies directed to "terminate engagements to the maximum extent permitted by law."
DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
A group headed by prominent anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum sued the firm in August 2023, alleging its diversity fellowships unlawfully excluded certain people based on their race. Perkins Coie changed the criteria for its fellowship program two months later and the suit was dropped.
Legal scholars said they were not aware of a U.S. presidential administration ever taking such official actions against specific law firms in the past.
Michael Frisch of Georgetown University's law school said it is a foundation of the legal profession that "everyone is entitled to a defense, and you don't judge a lawyer or law firm by the client that it chooses to legitimately and lawfully represent, and that's really under challenge right now."
University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, who served as associate White House counsel from 2005 to 2007, said he could see no direct connection between law firm diversity initiatives and risks to national security that would entail stripping a law firm's security clearances.
Perkins Coie is widely known for its legal work for tech companies and other clients. It is defending Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google against a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee accusing the tech giant of sending its emails to users' spam filters. The firm has represented Amazon (AMZN.O) in a number of court cases. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Its work for Hillary Clinton's campaign led to criticisms from Trump supporters, including Elon Musk.
