2026-08-21T17:39:43.462Z / 路透社
记者：卡伦·斯隆
2026年8月21日 世界标准时间17:39 更新于2小时前
- 内容摘要
- 教育部称美国律师协会下属法学院监管部门缺乏与其母体组织要求的独立性
- 美国律师协会曾因针对法官和律所的行动与特朗普政府产生冲突
- 认证咨询委员会将于9月审议此事
8月21日（路透社）——美国教育部周五提议取消美国律师协会长期以来作为美国法学院联邦认可认证机构的资格，这进一步加剧了唐纳德·特朗普总统政府与美国最具影响力的律师组织之间的矛盾。
撤销美国律师协会作为法学院官方监管机构的资格——该协会自1952年起一直承担这一职责——是本届政府限制该团体影响力的最新举措。一名白宫发言人在2025年曾将该协会斥为“势利的左翼律师组织”。
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教育部工作人员在周五发布的一份长篇报告中得出结论，美国律师协会下属的法律教育与律师准入委员会不符合相关要求，无法与更大的美国律师协会保持“分离与独立”。报告还批评美国律师协会修订其要求法学院达到多元化标准的规则时过于拖沓。
教育部一名发言人周五表示，对美国律师协会认证规则的审查发现其“不符合本机构的认证规定和认可标准”。
撤销美国律师协会的认证资格将影响部分法学院的联邦学生贷款准入，也可能让法学院学生更难参加律师资格考试并在其他州获得律师执业许可。
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一个两党认证咨询委员会将于9月审议周五提出的这项建议，最终决定将在数月后公布。
美国律师协会认证委员会主席梅利莎·哈特在一份声明中表示，该委员会将于下月与联邦咨询委员会会面时“澄清任何误解并厘清记录”。她表示，委员会“有信心”能够解决教育部的担忧。
与美国律师协会的矛盾进一步升级
特朗普在2025年4月签署一项行政命令，指示教育部长琳达·麦克马洪评估是否暂停或终止美国律师协会作为政府官方法学院认证机构的资格，理由是该协会存在“非法的‘多样性、公平性与包容性’要求”。
自那以来，美国律师协会已就取消家庭暴力资助资金一事起诉政府，并挑战特朗普针对个别律所的行政命令。美国司法部已禁止其律师在或参加美国律师协会的活动，并缩减了该协会长期以来参与审查司法提名人选的角色。
尽管美国律师协会法学院部门近期努力声明其与母体组织的独立性，并取消针对法学院的多元化、公平性与包容性规则，但本届政府仍提议终止该协会的认证资格。
美国律师协会的决策机构本月早些时候投票反对取消多元化、公平性与包容性规则，但法律教育委员会预计将在原定于周五召开的会议上推进废除该规则的议程。
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Trump administration moves to end attorney group’s law school oversight
2026-08-21T17:39:43.462Z / Reuters
By Karen Sloan
August 21, 2026 5:39 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago
A view of the U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
- Summary
- Education Department says ABA’s law school arm lacks required independence from parent organization
- ABA has clashed with the Trump administration over actions against judges and law firms
- Accreditation advisory committee will consider the matter in September
Aug 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Education on Friday moved to strip the American Bar Association of its longstanding status as the federally recognized accreditor of U.S. law schools, deepening a clash between President Donald Trump’s administration and the nation’s most high-profile lawyer organization.
Removing the ABA as the official overseer of law schools, a role it has filled since 1952, represents the administration’s latest effort to curtail the influence of the group, which a White House spokesperson in 2025 dismissed as a “snooty” organization of “leftist lawyers.”
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In a lengthy report released on Friday, Education Department staff concluded that the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is not “separate and independent” from the larger ABA as required. The report also faulted the ABA for being too slow to revise its rule requiring law schools to meet diversity standards.
A review of the ABA’s accreditation rules found it “out of compliance with the agency’s accreditation regulations and recognition standards,” an Education Department spokesperson said on Friday.
Revoking the ABA’s accreditor status would disrupt federal student loan access for some law schools and could make it harder for law students to take the bar exam and become licensed attorneys in different states.
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A bipartisan accreditation advisory committee will consider Friday’s recommendation in September, with a final decision several months away.
The ABA’s accreditation council will “address any misconceptions and clarify the record” when it meets with the federal advisory committee next month, its chairperson, Melissa Hart, said in a statement. She said the council is “confident” it can address the Education Department’s concerns.
DEEPENING CLASH WITH ABA
Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to assess whether to suspend or terminate the ABA as the government’s official law school accreditor, citing its “unlawful ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ requirements.”
Since then, the ABA has sued the administration over canceled domestic violence grant funding and to challenge Trump’s executive orders targeting individual law firms. The U.S. Department of Justice has barred its attorneys from speaking at or attending ABA events and curtailed the ABA’s longtime role in vetting judicial nominees.
blob:https://www.reuters.com/c63573da-03bb-44b4-a5a8-5a7f18ba9991
The administration’s move to end the organization’s accreditor status comes despite recent efforts by the ABA’s law school wing to assert its independence from its parent organization and eliminate its DEI rule for law schools.
The ABA’s policymaking body earlier this month voted against removing the DEI rule, but the legal education council was expected to push ahead with stripping the rule at a previously scheduled meeting on Friday.
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Reporting by Karen Sloan in Sacramento, California; Editing by Matthew Lewis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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