The American Bar Association filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of illegally canceling $3.2 million in grants as retaliation for the organization’s criticism of the Trump administration, Reuters reports.
In the complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the ABA asked a judge to block Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department from cutting the grants, which were used to train lawyers who represent survivors of sexual and domestic violence. On Thursday, the ABA also requested a temporary restraining order to stop the termination.
The Justice Department ended the funding on April 10, one day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo barring department attorneys from attending ABA events. Blanche claimed the group had taken part in “activist causes” that conflicted with the department’s mission, according to the lawsuit.
The move is the latest escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and the ABA, which represents roughly 150,000 members and serves as a prominent voice for the legal profession.
A Trump spokesperson in March dismissed the ABA as a “snooty” group of “leftist lawyers” after the organization raised concerns that federal budget cuts under Trump were undermining the rule of law. The ABA has also publicly condemned political attacks on judges and law firms.
Earlier this year, the ABA sued to stop the administration from cutting funding to foreign aid organizations.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday came the same day Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to review the ABA’s status as a federally recognized accreditor of law schools. The review is part of a broader push to overhaul higher education accreditation.
In March, Bondi threatened to revoke the ABA’s accreditor status because of its now-suspended diversity and inclusion rule, which previously required law schools to meet certain standards to maintain accreditation.
According to the lawsuit, the ABA has received grant funding from the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women since 1995. The money is used to train attorneys and judges on improving access to justice for survivors.
The ABA also claims it has lost nearly $69 million in federal grants and was forced to lay off more than 300 employees as a result.
Neither the Justice Department nor the ABA responded to requests for comment Thursday.
