{"id":2647863,"date":"2026-08-21T13:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntrump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T13:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:52:00","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntrump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntrump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Starts Breaking ABA&#8217;s Law School Accreditation Monopoly"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntrump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2647863&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Trump governance announced it is indeed moving to dismantle the American Bar Association\u2019s (ABA) exclusive authority as the accreditor of U.S. law schools, citing concerns that the organization has been biased and overly politicized. the Department of Education recommended that the ABA lose it&#8217;s status as the sole recognized accreditor, initiating a review process that coudl allow law schools to be accredited through their broader university accreditation or other means. This move is part of broader efforts by the department to reduce what it describes as a cartel-like system in higher education accreditation that has been influenced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/saturday-september-25th-2021\/\" title=\"Saturday | September 25th, 2021\">left-wing ideologies<\/a>. Critics argue that the ABA has compromised its credibility and pushed ideological agendas, while supporters see this as a necessary step to restore independence and fairness in legal education oversight. The controversy is ongoing, with hearings scheduled and ongoing discussions about the ABA\u2019s role and influence.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:03042025_SLM_First_day_in_the_Office-4.jpg\">US Department of Education \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\">CC By 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/21\/trump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Trump Admin Starts Breaking American Bar Association\u2019s Left-Wing Monopoly On Law School Accreditation&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/21\/trump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Trump Admin Starts Breaking American Bar Association\u2019s Left-Wing Monopoly On Law School Accreditation&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/21\/trump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/21\/trump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Trump Admin Starts Breaking American Bar Association\u2019s Left-Wing Monopoly On Law School Accreditation&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/21\/trump-admin-starts-breaking-american-bar-associations-left-wing-monopoly-on-law-school-accreditation\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;Trump Admin Starts Breaking American Bar Association\u2019s Left-Wing Monopoly On Law School Accreditation&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration announced Friday it is moving forward with dismantling the American Bar Association\u2019s (ABA) stranglehold on U.S. law schools, which allowed the organization to force left-wing ideologies on legal education at the threat of revoking accreditation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department of Education staff recommended that the ABA lose its status as the only officially recognized accreditor of American law schools, starting a process that will send the recommendation to the Department of Education\u2019s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), and then to Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent for review.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-39495319\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have said many times that accreditation, in general, operates like a cartel,\u201d Assistant Secretary of Education David Barker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/education\/aba-american-bar-association-law-schools-accredit-trump-education-e56f4cbc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, according to The Wall Street Journal. \u201cWhen there\u2019s no competition, accreditors feel free to inject their own political preferences, their own ideologies into the work that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ABA was already scheduled to have a hearing before NACIQI in September, and many have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/13\/the-american-bar-association-is-unfit-to-accredit-law-schools-and-the-trump-admin-can-stop-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> such a hearing could be an avenue to block renewal. An official familiar with the matter told The Federalist that part of the September meeting is about resolving some mostly unrelated issues brought up at a prior renewal hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Education Department\u2019s Friday move is a new line of attack against the ABA, but the official said that loss of the ABA as an accreditor would likely still open the door for a university\u2019s law school to be accredited under the umbrella of the full university\u2019s accreditation, if it is affiliated. Law schools not affiliated with a larger university rely on accreditation to be eligible for federal student loans. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the recommendation, the Department of Education prepared a report of nearly 500 pages that details the ABA\u2019s lack of fitness to have so much authority over law schools and states the association does not maintain enough independence from the legal profession to be a trustworthy accreditor of educational offerings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe American Bar Association has abused its role as the nation\u2019s main law school accreditor to push leftist ideology in the legal profession,\u201d Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JCNSeverino\/status\/2090823669723410792?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> on social media. \u201cThe ABA lost its credibility long ago. Now it will finally face the repercussions of prioritizing political agendas over the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/20\/exclusive-watchdog-asks-ed-department-to-block-american-bar-associations-renewal-as-law-schools-sole-accreditor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, movement <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/13\/the-american-bar-association-is-unfit-to-accredit-law-schools-and-the-trump-admin-can-stop-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">against<\/a> the ABA from outside groups has been mounting, and the Trump administration has likewise <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/24\/trump-admin-targets-university-accreditors-for-their-dei-activism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targeted<\/a> university accreditors generally, and specifically the ABA, because of its political activism. Earlier this week, the Department of Education <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/19\/education-department-breaks-left-wing-university-accreditation-cabal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a> a proposed rule that would make it easier to recognize new accreditors across higher education. Trump has called accreditation a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/24\/trump-admin-targets-university-accreditors-for-their-dei-activism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secret weapon<\/a>\u201d to rein in the far-left institutional capture of higher education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the fact that the ABA claims to have stopped some of its more overtly discriminatory requirements, such as affirmative action hiring or DEI programming for law school students, groups like Protect the Public\u2019s Trust (PPT) <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/20\/exclusive-watchdog-asks-ed-department-to-block-american-bar-associations-renewal-as-law-schools-sole-accreditor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maintain<\/a> those overtures are simply biding time until a Democrat administration comes back in.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/aba\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ABA<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/accreditation\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">accreditation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/american-bar-association\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">American Bar Association<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/department-of-education\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Department of Education<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/education-department\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Education Department<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/judicial-system\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">judicial system<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/law-school\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">law school<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/law-schools\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Law Schools<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lawyers\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">lawyers<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/national-advisory-committee-on-institutional-quality-and-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump Administration<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump admin targets ABA&#8217;s control over law school accreditation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2647864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3840px-03042025_SLM_First_day_in_the_Office-4-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[51531,84507,3634],"class_list":["post-2647863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aba","tag-law-school","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3840px-03042025_SLM_First_day_in_the_Office-4-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647863"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647867,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647863\/revisions\/2647867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}