ABA opposes DEI probes into bar associations, Trump team revamps DOJ with his former personal lawyer, US Senate confirms Pam Bondi as AG and more ??

?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:

?? ABA opposes any DEI probes into bar associations

The American Bar Association urged the Trump administration to roll back its executive order calling for federal investigations into diversity and inclusion efforts by bar associations, citing the groups' First Amendment rights.

The?resolution?adopted by the group on Feb. 3 marks its first public stance against the Jan. 21 executive order that cited bar associations along with medical associations, publicly traded companies and other private-sector entities as potential targets for federal civil investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion programs that may “constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”

The city of Baltimore and three other groups sued Trump on Feb. 3 to stop it and another executive order focused on ending diversity and inclusion programs. That suit alleges the executive orders exceeded the president's authority under the U.S. Constitution.

“The First Amendment prohibits the federal government from interfering with the expressive rights of bar associations and others by threatening them with investigation and prosecution for adopting or promoting [diversity and inclusion],” reads a report supporting the ABA resolution. No one spoke against the resolution at the House of Delegates meeting in Phoenix.

The ABA's resolution urges the Trump administration to modify the executive order to clarify that it won't be enforced in a manner that infringes on bar associations' 1st Amendment rights.

The ABA, which has about 150,000 paying members and is the federally recognized accreditor of U.S. law schools, has made diversity and inclusion one of its four core goals.

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?? Trump team revamps US Justice Department with his former personal lawyer?at helm

For two weeks President Donald Trump's new administration has been racing to remake the Justice Department tasked with U.S. law enforcement. Leading the overhaul is Emil Bove, a lawyer who defended Trump in a criminal case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.

Bove stayed largely in the background during last year's criminal trial, letting his co-counsel address the jury while their client, then a candidate for the White House, spoke to news cameras in the courtroom hallway.

Now as acting deputy attorney general, Bove has been front and center, signing his name to bold policy changes meant to remove what Trump calls political bias but which critics say threaten DOJ's traditional independence from the White House.

"If you want somebody who's going to hit the ground running, he's the guy," said Brendan Quigley, who in 2016 alongside Bove secured the trial conviction of two?nephews of Venezuela's first lady?on drug trafficking charges at the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan.

"He's not one to shy away from a fight," said Quigley, now a partner at law firm Baker Botts.

Bove is responsible for?day-to-day operations?of DOJ's more than 110,000 employees until Trump's permanent choice,?Todd Blanche, is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Once Blanche, who also defended Trump in the hush money case, is confirmed, Bove is expected to work as his top deputy.

The temporary nature of Bove's appointment has not deterred him from implementing contentious changes to policies on two fronts: the probe of Trump supporters' Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and immigration enforcement.

In a memo seen by Reuters, Bove ordered the firing of all prosecutors who had been hired on a probationary basis to work on Jan. 6-related cases. Last week, he told the top federal prosecutors in each state to compile a list of all prosecutors and FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 probe.

Trump has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and step up deportations. On Jan. 21, 2025, Bove's second day in the job, he instructed federal prosecutors to investigate local officials who refuse to assist federal immigration authorities.

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??? US Senate confirms Trump's nominee Pam Bondi as attorney general

The Republican-led U.S. Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as the new U.S. attorney general on Feb. 4, propelling one of?President Donald Trump's staunchest political allies to the top perch of American law enforcement.

With a 54-46 vote, the confirmation of the former Florida state attorney general will help Trump solidify his control over the?U.S. Justice Department, which has recently seen sweeping cuts?targeting prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president's supporters.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman joined all 53 Republicans in voting for Bondi.

Bondi?vowed to maintain the department's independence?during a confirmation hearing last month, telling lawmakers she will not inject politics into criminal or civil investigations.

But lawmakers continue to harbor concerns about whether she will resist potentially improper or illegal orders from Trump, after the firings of dozens of prosecutors who pursued criminal charges against him.

Bondi, who spent decades as a prosecutor, represented Trump during his first impeachment trial. She has also echoed some of his false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The incoming attorney general holds a stake in Trump's media company, the Trump Media and Technology Group, according to financial disclosures she filed with the Office of Government Ethics.

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????? US judge blocks Trump from sending transgender women to men's prisons

A U.S. judge on Feb. 4 blocked President Donald Trump's administration from moving transgender women to men's prisons and ending their gender-affirming care.

In a broad ruling temporarily halting an executive order that Trump, a Republican, signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington found that three transgender inmates who sued would likely succeed in arguing the policy was unconstitutional.

The decision marked the second time that a federal judge had sided with LGBTQ legal rights groups who sued to prevent the U.S. Bureau of Prisons from implementing the order.

Lamberth's order applies to all 16 transgender women currently housed in federal women's prisons. It goes further than a Jan. 26 decision by a federal judge in Boston blocking prison officials from transferring an individual transgender woman to a men's facility.

The three transgender women who brought the Washington, D.C. case argued transgender women would face violence and sexual assault in men's prisons, which would violate their right to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment as guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Justice Department attorney John Robinson had argued that the Bureau of Prisons has broad authority to make inmate placement decisions. He urged Lamberth, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, to wait for the agency to revise its policies before issuing any order compelling the continuation of medical treatment.

In his decision, Lamberth wrote that the government did not dispute the plaintiffs' assertion that transgender persons were at a higher risk of physical and sexual violence than other inmates when housed in a facility corresponding to their biological sex.

Trump's executive order directed the federal government to only recognize two, biologically distinct sexes, male and female; house transgender women in men's prisons; and cease funding for any gender-affirming medical care for inmates.

The lawsuit filed on Jan. 30 also argued that Trump's executive order discriminates against transgender people on the basis of sex in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment.

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?? That's all for today, thank you for reading The Legal File, and have a great day!

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