Washington DC - US district judge Loren AliKhan blocked a number of measures taken in President Donald Trump's executive order against law firm Susman Godfrey, expressing concerns around "coercion."

AliKhan issued a temporary restraining order on Trump's command to cancel federal contracts with Susman Godfrey and restrict the law firm's lawyers from federal buildings – a move which would effectively stymie its ability to practice.

Trump signed an executive order earlier in April attacking Susman Godfrey (the law firm which represented Dominion Voting Systems in their defamation case against him) based on claims they had been engaging in activities "detrimental to critical American interests."

Susman Godfrey hit back at the order, which stripped them of access to federal buildings and contracts with the federal government, and launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday.

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"The government is purely trying to control what private lawyers may do, which I do not think will withstand constitutional scrutiny," AliKhan said during a hearing.

"Law firms across the country are entering into agreements with the government out of fear that they will be targeted next," she said.

"The executive order is based on a personal vendetta against a particular firm, and frankly, I think the framers of our Constitution would see this as a shocking abuse of power."

She expressed concerns that the Trump administration was engaged in "coercion" towards law firms that had represented the President's opponents in cases lodged against him in recent years.

In recent months, Trump has used his executive power to threaten multiple law firms and force some to undertake free legal work for the White House.

"Susman spearheads efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections," Trump's executive order claimed.