ABA Condemns Bondi Blocking Judicial Nominee Access

The American Bar Association (ABA) has strongly criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi's decision to exclude the organization from the judicial nominee evaluation process for the first time in over 70 years, calling it "deeply disturbing" and unprecedented. The ABA, which has historically provided impartial peer evaluations of federal judicial nominees, argues that Bondi's claim of bias favoring Democratic nominees is unfounded, emphasizing that it does not assess nominees' ideology or judicial philosophy and has rated nearly all nominees as "Well Qualified" or "Qualified" across administrations, including President Trump's. ABA President William Bay highlighted that the Justice Department's move to restrict access to nominees and relevant information will reduce transparency in confirming lifetime judicial appointments and undermine public trust in the federal courts. The ABA stressed its unique role in conducting extensive independent evaluations, including reviewing legal writings and interviewing colleagues, and called on Bondi to reconsider her decision, warning that it is based on incorrect information. The dispute reflects ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and the legal profession over the vetting of judicial nominees and accusations of partisan bias within legal organizations. This decision marks a further rollback of the ABA's involvement, following previous interruptions by Republican administrations.