The Trump administration is moving to do away with the American Bar Association’s accreditation of law schools, taking a new step to escalate conservatives’ beef with the left-leaning legal group.
The announcement came from David Barker, assistant secretary of education, through a report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal, which said the Education Department — by making this move — is escalating the Trump administration’s war with the premier legal group.
The president and Republican lawmakers have been critical of the ABA’s decision not to rate Trump judicial appointees as high as they have Democratic-appointed judges.
They’ve accused the ABA of promoting progressive policies and pushing diversity programs on law schools.
In many states, not going to an ABA-accredited law school can make taking the bar exam all but impossible for a law student.
The organization has carried weight in accrediting institutions and ranking roughly 200 law schools.
Their accreditation helps the schools obtain grant funding.
“We have said many times that accreditation, in general, operates like a cartel,” Mr. Barker told The Wall Street Journal. “When there’s no competition, accreditors feel free to inject their own political preferences, their own ideologies into the work that they do.”
In an email to The Washington Times, a spokesperson from the Education Department confirmed the Wall Street Journal’s report.
“After reviewing ABA’s accreditation standards, Department staff found the accreditor out of compliance with the agency’s accreditation regulations and recognition standards,” the spokesperson said.
“We will not comment on details as the process is ongoing and involves multiple stages of review, including by an independent, bipartisan advisory committee in September.”
Melissa Hart, who chairs the ABA’s Accreditation Council, told the WSJ that they are confident they comply with federal requirements.
“As a national accrediting body for American law schools, we remain focused on ensuring quality legal education that produces competent, ethical attorneys who are eligible for licensure,” she said.
“The outcomes produced by Council-accredited law schools are unmatched, and we continue the important work of accrediting law schools as our recognition process proceeds,” Ms. Hart said.
The Trump administration’s move is the first step in a multi-step process to end the ABA’s accreditation. A final decision would be months away.
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