Federal judges in two separate cases have temporarily blocked a White House effort to punish the law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, with one judge calling the effort "disturbing" and the second calling it a "constitutional harm."

In the case of Jenner & Block, Judge John Bates with the federal district court in Washington, D.C., issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, citing violations of the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment and an unconstitutional interference with the rights of its clients to select lawyers of their choosing.

In the second case, Judge Richard Leon temporarily blocked a separate executive order against WilmerHale.

"There is no doubt this retaliatory action chills speech and legal advocacy, or that it qualifies as a constitutional harm," Leon wrote. "The injuries to plaintiff here would be severe and would spill over to its clients and the justice system at large," he said.

The back-to-back rulings came after both firms took the Trump administration to court on Friday, seeking to block executive orders that the firms say target them for zealous representation of clients and their hearty pro bono work.