Yesterday, and the American Bar Association amped up their beef with President Donald Trump, adopting a resolution condemning his attempts to retaliate against “lawyers, law firms, or other organizations for representing or having represented any particular client or cause disfavored by the government.” The ABA’s resolution also criticizes threats to impeach judges “based solely on disagreement with the merits of the rulings made by those judges.”
In almost any other era, these are uncontroversial statements that do the bare minimum to defend the rule of law. But of course, we live in the hellscape of 2025, and the Trump administration has done those exact things.
So, the resolution is particularly pointed. But the ABA and the Trump administration have been going at it. The ABA sued Trump, et al. over the campaign to bully lawyers. The admin is threatening to strip the organization of its law school accreditation function. The DOJ cut the ABA out of the judicial vetting process. The ABA got in hot water over its diversity initiatives. The FTC cut ties with the organization and DOJ attorneys can’t participate in ABA events.
One mission of the Trump II reign is to undermine the rule of law, with this resolution the ABA is (again) signaling they’ll do their best to stand in the way of the authoritarian push.
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 ABA Strikes Back At Trump, Condemning His Attacks On Lawyers And The Rule Of Law appeared first on Above the Law.
Yesterday, and the American Bar Association amped up their beef with President Donald Trump, adopting a resolution condemning his attempts to retaliate against “lawyers, law firms, or other organizations for representing or having represented any particular client or cause disfavored by the government.” The ABA’s resolution also criticizes threats to impeach judges “based solely on disagreement with the merits of the rulings made by those judges.”
In almost any other era, these are uncontroversial statements that do the bare minimum to defend the rule of law. But of course, we live in the hellscape of 2025, and the Trump administration has done those exact things.
So, the resolution is particularly pointed. But the ABA and the Trump administration have been going at it. The ABA sued Trump, et al. over the campaign to bully lawyers. The admin is threatening to strip the organization of its law school accreditation function. The DOJ cut the ABA out of the judicial vetting process. The ABA got in hot water over its diversity initiatives. The FTC cut ties with the organization and DOJ attorneys can’t participate in ABA events.
One mission of the Trump II reign is to undermine the rule of law, with this resolution the ABA is (again) signaling they’ll do their best to stand in the way of the authoritarian push.
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].
