In a high-stakes showdown over the limits of government retaliation and the reach of free speech protections, a federal judge in Washington has halted the Justice Department’s attempt to yank $3.2 million in funding from the American Bar Association—a move the ABA says was fueled by political vengeance.
The temporary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper bars the DOJ from canceling grants that support training for attorneys assisting survivors of domestic and sexual violence. At the core of the case is a battle not just over money, but over the Constitution’s First Amendment—and whether dissenting voices can be silenced with a fiscal axe.
Judge Cooper didn’t mince words. “The First Amendment injury is concrete and ongoing,” he wrote, warning that the DOJ’s actions appeared to punish the ABA for exercising its right to speak freely.
The ABA filed suit last month, accusing the Justice Department of stripping its funding as payback for its criticism of former President Donald Trump’s administration. According to the ABA, the funding cuts came just one day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo prohibiting DOJ lawyers from participating in ABA events, citing the organization’s involvement in so-called “activist causes.”
In the lawsuit, the ABA alleges it was specifically targeted for voicing concerns about threats to the rule of law—positions that clashed with the Trump administration’s messaging. The Justice Department, for its part, attempted to get the case thrown out, arguing that the court can’t force the government to honor a contract to spend taxpayer money.
But the judge wasn’t persuaded—at least not yet.
Skye Perryman, one of the ABA’s attorneys, praised the ruling as a defense of constitutional principles. She said the court recognized that the Justice Department was attempting to punish the ABA “because of its stance on the importance of the rule of law and our Constitution.”
The legal clash marks the latest front in a widening conflict between the Trump-aligned DOJ and one of the country’s most prominent legal organizations. Earlier this year, a Trump campaign spokesperson labeled the ABA a “snooty” group of “leftist lawyers” after the association criticized funding cuts to federal agencies.
The ABA says the fallout has been dramatic: nearly $69 million in lost federal grants and over 300 staff layoffs. The organization has received DOJ grants since 1995 to support training for judges and lawyers handling domestic violence and sexual assault cases. Now, its future role in those programs hangs in the balance.
As the courtroom fight continues, so too does the broader tug-of-war over free speech, government funding, and the independence of legal institutions.
