Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at a news conference regarding immigration enforcement at the Justice Department, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The Justice Department said in the letter that it will no longer grant the ABA the "special treatment" and first access it has received, revoking decades of precedent where the ABA interviewed and vetted potential members of the incoming DOJ team.
"Accordingly, while the ABA is free to comment on judicial nominations along with other activist organizations, there is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so."
It also ended an Office of Legal Policy that directed judicial nominees to provide waivers allowing the ABA access to non-public information for nominees, including bar records.
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US President Donald Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty)
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He and others on the panel previously took aim at the group for embracing so-called "woke initiatives," including its heavy use of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI efforts, in many facets of its work.
This is not the first time Republican administrations have broken with the ABA. The George W. Bush administration ended the practice of giving the ABA a first look at nominees, and Trump also did so in his first presidential term.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-department-tells-american-bar-association-no-longer-comply-ratings-judicial-nominees