In a petition, the businesses contend that politics were at the center of the purchase review process. In a last-ditch effort to rekindle their attempted acquisition, President Biden blocked it last week on the grounds that the deal posed a threat to national security, U. S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel filed a lawsuit against the US government on Monday. The lawsuit, filed in a federal judge in Washington, accused Mr. Biden and other top administration officials of stifling the review process for democratic gain and of killing steel workers and the British steel industry by preventing the transaction under fake national security pretenses. After a government panel charged with reviewing international assets failed to reach a choice regarding whether the deal should continue, Mr. Biden made a decision to stop the merger. Mr. Biden stated in a statement on Friday that he was taking steps to keep the country’s steel industry solid internally. The president had recently vowed to ensure that U. S. Steel remained American-owned. The companies want the United States ‘ Committee on Foreign Investment to execute a new review of the agreement. The companies also filed a distinct complaint against Cleveland-Cliffs, an American metal company that recently tried to buy U. S. Steel but was rebuffed, along with Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, and David McCall, global president of the strong union United Steelworkers. According to the lawsuit, Cleveland-Cliffs and the union’s leader allegedly conspired against the proposed agreement between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel. The companies ‘ long-range plans to keep a deal that was sparked by election-year politics were represented by the legal actions. No transaction hampered by those powers has ever been overturned by the courts, and presidents have broad authority to determine what constitutes a national security threat. The article content is retrievable with difficulty. Please make JavaScript available in your browser’s settings. Thank you for your patience while access is verified. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while access is verified. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.