Another sign that the Trump II administration is taking a sharper turn to the right than his previous time in office happened on Friday when the Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson announced the agency was over the American Bar Association. Specifically, the new policy “prohibits FTC political appointees from holding leadership roles in the American Bar Association (ABA), participating in ABA events, or renewing their ABA memberships. Additionally, the FTC will no longer use its resources to support any employee’s ABA membership or participation in ABA activities.” As a reminder, the ABA is a nonpartisan organization, and the country’s largest voluntary bar association.
The letter — available in full below — has big got-a-C-in-contracts-gunner energy. Ferguson accuses the ABA of a “long history of leftist advocacy” and “recent attacks on the Trump-Vance Administration’s governing agenda.” He continues:
The President of the ABA recently issued a statement accusing the Trump-Vance Administration of “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.” What followed was a breathless screed leveled against President Donald J. Trump’s swift and tireless delivery on his promises to the American people to confront our existential immigration crisis and end waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. This statement was not a sober assessment of the law. It was a collection of Democrat political talking points with the ABA’s logo affixed at the top.
Ah yes, the “collection of Democrat political talking points” that quotes *checks notes* a Reagan judge. Hm. Maybe the ABA’s position isn’t as one-sided as Ferguson would like to pretend it is.
The letter also slams the ABA for being in bed with Big Tech. Listen, there are legitimate concerns about the revolving door between government and private sector — just ask Ed Martin — yet this perennial issue doesn’t feel like the motivating factor behind the FTC’s petty move. Even the specific evidence Ferguson uses to extend his case is from 2022, when the ABA Antitrust Section opposed the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, sponsored by… Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar. Sigh. There appears to be more than a little bit of tension between Ferguson’s first and second argument.
The Trump administration has proven in the less-than-a-month it’s been back in charge they’re willing to go scorched earth. The ABA smacked at the administration, so now the FTC won’t pay their employees’ $195 membership fee. I’m sure this isn’t the last tit-for-tat we’ll see out of the Trump II reign.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post FTC Cuts Ties With American Bar Association appeared first on Above the Law.
Another sign that the Trump II administration is taking a sharper turn to the right than his previous time in office happened on Friday when the Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson announced the agency was over the American Bar Association. Specifically, the new policy “prohibits FTC political appointees from holding leadership roles in the American Bar Association (ABA), participating in ABA events, or renewing their ABA memberships. Additionally, the FTC will no longer use its resources to support any employee’s ABA membership or participation in ABA activities.” As a reminder, the ABA is a nonpartisan organization, and the country’s largest voluntary bar association.
The letter — available in full below — has big got-a-C-in-contracts-gunner energy. Ferguson accuses the ABA of a “long history of leftist advocacy” and “recent attacks on the Trump-Vance Administration’s governing agenda.” He continues:
The President of the ABA recently issued a statement accusing the Trump-Vance Administration of “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.” What followed was a breathless screed leveled against President Donald J. Trump’s swift and tireless delivery on his promises to the American people to confront our existential immigration crisis and end waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. This statement was not a sober assessment of the law. It was a collection of Democrat political talking points with the ABA’s logo affixed at the top.
Ah yes, the “collection of Democrat political talking points” that quotes *checks notes* a Reagan judge. Hm. Maybe the ABA’s position isn’t as one-sided as Ferguson would like to pretend it is.
The letter also slams the ABA for being in bed with Big Tech. Listen, there are legitimate concerns about the revolving door between government and private sector — just ask Ed Martin — yet this perennial issue doesn’t feel like the motivating factor behind the FTC’s petty move. Even the specific evidence Ferguson uses to extend his case is from 2022, when the ABA Antitrust Section opposed the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, sponsored by… Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar. Sigh. There appears to be more than a little bit of tension between Ferguson’s first and second argument.
The Trump administration has proven in the less-than-a-month it’s been back in charge they’re willing to go scorched earth. The ABA smacked at the administration, so now the FTC won’t pay their employees’ $195 membership fee. I’m sure this isn’t the last tit-for-tat we’ll see out of the Trump II reign.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
