Just one day after signaling it would stand down in its fight with law firms that refuse to yield to President Donald Trump, the administration abruptly reversed course and moved to renew its defense of the president’s executive orders.

“The administration told a court on Monday that it was abandoning its defense of executive orders targeting the firms,” The New York Times reports. “But on Tuesday, the Justice Department appeared to abruptly change its position.”

According to the Times, the situation is currently “fluid,” as the administration has not indicated what legal strategy it will now utilize, nor has the court ruled that it would allow the Department of Justice to reverse course.

The administration on Monday had asked an appeals court if it could drop its appeal after law firms had won their case in court, an apparent signal that it did not believe the executive orders could withstand scrutiny.

“But on Tuesday morning, the Justice Department appeared to have abruptly changed its position, according to the people, the Times noted. “In an email to the four firms contesting the orders, a department official apologized for the short notice and said it would file a motion to withdraw its voluntary dismissal.”

On Monday, before the administration’s reversal, the Times reported that the administration had “abandoned its attempts to impose potentially crippling executive orders against law firms that refused to capitulate to the president, walking away from its appeal of victories the firms had won against the White House.”

Calling it “the White House’s most significant acknowledgment that the executive orders cannot be successfully defended in court,” the Times reported that the “move is particularly striking given that some firms opted to reach deals in a bid to head off executive orders that President Trump’s Justice Department said it would no longer stand behind.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein commented on the latest development: “A reversal on the reversal as the attacks on Big Law are now back on, apparently.”

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem rejected an opportunity to retract her allegations that the two American citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were “domestic terrorists.”

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Secretary Noem, instead of retracting her statements as Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) suggested, attempted to blame federal agents on the ground for the “domestic terrorist” labels.

“You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as, quote, domestic terrorists,” Senator Durbin told Noem on Tuesday. “We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements caused immeasurable pain to these families. Let me give you an opportunity to do the right thing. Do you retract these statements identifying these individuals as domestic terrorists?”

“You know, Senator Durbin,” Noem replied, “when we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to those families, and I offer mine as well.” She called the situations “tragic.”

READ MORE: Rubio Scrambles to Contain Iran War Revolt

“What I will say is, we always work to provide the American people with as much information as possible, that we’re relying on reports from the ground, and from agents that are there, and working to be transparent, and will continue to do all that we can to provide the accurate information and the facts to people, as we can.”

Critics blasted the DHS Secretary.

Republican former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock said it was “outrageous” that Noem “continues to lie” about the victims. “She should be fired or impeached. She’s unfit.”

Sen. Durbin: “You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as domestic terrorists…Do you retract these statements identifying these individuals as domestic terrorists?”

Noem: *does not retract her statement* pic.twitter.com/dD9YPq8RSb

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) March 3, 2026

READ MORE: FBI Agents Probing Iranian Threats Fired Over Mar-a-Lago Investigation Ties

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday in an effort to head off a potential “revolt” from lawmakers angered by the Trump administration’s decision to attack Iran without notifying Congress — let alone without seeking its authorization — a move critics say violates the U.S. Constitution.

The House and Senate are set to vote this week on resolutions to put guardrails on President Donald Trump‘s ability to use unilateral military force, Politico reports.

Secretary Rubio on Monday said that “Congress can vote on whatever they want. But there’s no law that requires us” to obtain congressional approval before going to war.

“Look, that is fine if they want to take a war powers vote,” Rubio told reporters. “They can do that. They’ve done that. They’ve done that a bunch of times. But there’s no – people keep saying that we have – there’s no law that requires the President to have done anything with regards to this. To begin with, no presidential administration has ever accepted the War Powers Act as constitutional – not Republican presidents, not Democratic presidents.”

READ MORE: FBI Agents Probing Iranian Threats Fired Over Mar-a-Lago Investigation Ties

On Tuesday afternoon, Rubio will be joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, to brief members of Congress on the President’s military actions in Iran.

Politico adds that “lawmakers on both sides are decrying a lack of details from the administration — including evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S. that would necessitate military action.”

Some prominent Democrats blasted Rubio’s claim that there is no law that requires the administration to obtain congressional approval.

“There is a law,” wrote U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). “It’s called the frickin Constitution of the United States.”

But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pushed back on efforts to put guardrails on the President.

“The idea that we would take the ability of our commander in chief … to finish this job, is a frightening prospect to me,” he said.

READ MORE: White House Fires Back as Right Wing Influencer Fuels MAGA Rift

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