Judge Rejects Doj Bid To Delay Anthropic Appeal In Pentagon Dispute

A federal judge in California has denied the government’s request to pause its appeal of a March ruling that temporarily blocked the Pentagon from labeling Anthropic as a supply chain risk.

Justice Department lawyers argued earlier this week that the appeal should be put on hold until judges at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hand down a ruling in another case regarding Anthropic’s clash with the Pentagon. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin denied that request on Thursday, noting that the D.C. case was brought pursuant to a different statute. “[I]t is speculative, at best, that the D.C. Circuit’s decision will simplify matters in this action,” she wrote in her order.

Due to a quirk in federal law, Anthropic was forced in March to file lawsuits in both Northern California and the D.C. Circuit when it challenged the government’s action designating it a supply chain risk. On April 8, a three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit rejected Anthropic’s request to pause the designation, creating a court split.

Lin, in her order, also found that the government’s lawyers did not provide enough evidence that they needed an extra two months to compile an administrative record from the 16 other agencies that Anthropic sued in addition to the Pentagon. She determined that an additional four weeks would be sufficient.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This latest development in the legal struggle between the Pentagon and Anthropic comes as the administration has increasingly shown signs that it is looking to reconcile with the company.

Staff at federal agencies such as the Commerce Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology previously sought to skirt a government ban on the use of Anthropic’s technology in order to test its powerful Mythos model, according to a former senior U.S. technology official with direct knowledge of the discussions.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross also met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei last week to discuss Mythos. President Donald Trump also told CNBC on Tuesday that a deal with Anthropic is “possible,” and that the company’s executives are “very smart people.”