Joe Holleman
Political correspondent/columnist
Sens. Josh Hawley, left, and Eric Schmitt.
Six Republican U.S. senators, including both from Missouri, have picked a fight with the American Bar Association, headed by a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ lawyer.
Led by U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, with colleague Josh Hawley signing on, the sextet contends that the association has becoming little more than a partisan-politics vessel.
The letter was first obtained and reported on Monday .
Calling the ABA a “hive of leftist thought and activism,â€Â the senators’ letter urges their colleagues to quit using the association’s recommendations when deciding to confirm U.S. judges.
The lawmakers also are calling on President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice to remove the association entirely from the judicial nomination process.
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“It is a failed institution that is incapable of impartially rating nominees and making legislative recommendations,†states their letter to , the association’s president.
Thompson Coburn partner Bill Bay was elected chair of the American Bar Association House of Delegates.
Bay is a partner with the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ . He is a former president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors. Currently, he co-chairs the .
Bay was not available for comment.
Though not in response to the senators’ letter,  on Tuesday that the Trump administration is targeting judges and lawyers who make decisions with which it disagrees.
The senators go on to claim that “as we saw during the Biden Administration, the ABA’s ratings were little more than political endorsements for the most radical, left-wing partisans.â€
The letter then goes further to take the association to task for its opposition to the Trump administration’s slashing of funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The senators claim that during the ABA’s fight against the cuts, it did not disclose that it had from USAID since 2008.
“It is questionable whether the ABA is committed to defending liberty or its own sources of funding,†the senators said.
Along with Schmitt and Hawley, the letter was signed by GOP U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Bernie Moreno of Ohio.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of March 2, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
