Washington DC - A federal judge on Wednesday partially blocked President Donald Trump's sanctioning of a law firm over work that it did for Democrat Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump, in an executive order last week, suspended the security clearances of employees of Perkins Coie LLP and barred them from accessing federal government buildings.

The Republican president also asked government agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and refrain from hiring any of its employees.

One day after Perkins Coie filed a complaint in a federal court in Washington, District Judge Beryl Howell issued a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of parts of Trump's executive order.

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During a court hearing in the US capital, Howell described Trump's order as "retaliatory," intended to punish a law firm that represented the president's political opponents, according to the political news website The Hill.

"Issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the president's dislike of the political positions of the firm's clients or the firm's litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head-on into the role of First Amendment protection," Howell said, per The Hill.

Howell blocked the parts of Trump's executive order prohibiting Perkins Coie employees from entering federal buildings and the rescinding of government contracts, but did not immediately address the suspension of security clearances for its lawyers.

During the hearing, Dane Butswinkas, a lawyer representing Perkins Coie, said the firm has already lost clients and the White House move was "life-threatening."

"I'm not here to exaggerate about it," The Hill quoted Butswinkas as saying. "It will spell the end of the law firm."

In a court filing, Perkins Coie called Trump's executive order "an affront to the Constitution" and an attempt to "bully" those with adverse views.

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Perkins Coie said it was being targeted because the president views it "as aligned with the Democratic Party by reason of its representation of the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign" and its successful handling of legal challenges to Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 election.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Perkins Coie hired a research agency, Fusion GPS, that produced the so-called "Steele Dossier," which alleged Trump colluded with Russia during the campaign.

Trump president also retaliated last month against another law firm, Covington & Burling, which did pro bono work for Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought two criminal cases against Trump after he left the White House in 2021.