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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Labor’s top lawyer ordered staff on Monday to stop engaging with the American Bar Association in their official capacities, saying the organization partakes in liberal activism and that any federal participation would only boost its influence.
Trump-appointed Solicitor Jonathan Berry wrote in an email that the hundreds of attorneys at the Department of Labor are not to use taxpayer funds to participate in any ABA events or use their government job titles at them, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“The ABA is strategically equivocal about its ideological stance,” Berry wrote. “Equivocal in that the ABA holds itself out as non-ideological at certain times, but takes decidedly radical ideological positions at others.”
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES
A large U.S. flag is seen on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington D.C., Sept. 8, 2025. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
His email marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to weaken the ABA, the nation’s largest association of lawyers and other legal personnel.
The Department of Justice implemented a similar policy last year and terminated more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs before a judge found that ending the funds was unconstitutional. The Federal Trade Commission likewise severed its ties with the ABA’s antitrust arm, saying it “promotes the business interests of Big Tech.”
Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website touts that it is the “national voice of the legal profession” and showcases work that includes support for “LGBTQ+” initiatives; abortion access; stricter…
