U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor speaks at the State Bar Association of North Dakota’s annual meeting at the Bismarck Event Center on June 13, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) — A North Dakota federal judge said he shares the Trump administration’s opinion that the American Bar Association is too left-wing.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the White House has revoked millions of dollars in federal funds for the association and sought to limit its status as a major regulator of the legal profession. Critics allege this is part of a larger effort by the administration to silence opposition, and to reduce transparency and accountability in government.
In a speech to State Bar Association of North Dakota members last week, U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor said while the merits of the White House’s actions are “certainly debatable,” he agrees that the association is politically slanted.
Traynor, a Trump appointee, claimed the American Bar Association has consistently taken a left-of-center stance on politically divisive issues despite being officially nonpartisan. The organization has supported gender-affirming health care for minors, abortion access and affirmative action, for instance.
The association has for years criticized Trump, including with respect to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the administration’s treatment of judges and lawyers that cross the executive branch. The association on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration accusing it of bullying lawyers and law firms that take clients and cases that the president doesn’t like.
While the American Bar Association mainly supports attorneys, judges and law students, it has also provided services to the general public, like screening nominees for federal court.
Traynor said he supports the organization’s defense of the courts, but thinks it has given outsized attention to the Trump administration and ignored other attacks on the judiciary. He criticized the American Bar Association for not commenting on the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, and said it didn’t do enough to condemn past safety threats against Supreme Court justices.
“I am glad the ABA is refocusing on the rule of law, but its refocus seems to be, sadly, motivated more by the occupant of the White House than conviction. And the Trump administration has taken notice,” Traynor said, according to a copy of his speech shared with the North Dakota Monitor.
The White House has pulled grants to the American Bar Association that went toward services including legal assistance for immigrants and support for attorneys that work with domestic and sexual violence survivors. The organization has sued the executive branch over the cuts, and some of this funding has been reinstated.
Bill Bay, president of the American Bar Association, delivers a talk at the State Bar Association of North Dakota’s annual meeting in Bismarck on June 13, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
Recently, the Trump administration said it will also no longer help the American Bar Association screen judicial nominees by facilitating access to information like bar records, which could shield appointees from public scrutiny.
Traynor’s comments came a day before American Bar Association President Bill Bay delivered his own address to North Dakota state bar members.
Bay didn’t directly address Traynor’s criticisms, but maintained that the organization is nonpartisan and its policies are decided by a majority vote of delegates at its meetings.
He also said the American Bar Association has a responsibility to speak out against conduct by the Trump administration it deems uncivil or unlawful.
“We cannot tolerate disregard for the rule of law and due process,” he said.
Comments