Congress has scheduled a hearing to investigate whether the American Bar Association (ABA) has leveraged its accreditation authority to enforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies across the legal profession.
The House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights will question ABA President Michelle A. Behnke about the organization’s influence over law school accreditation.
Representative Brandon Gill described DEI as a “cancerous ideology” that promotes unlawful discrimination and denies merit‑based opportunities. He accused the ABA of using its accreditation power to impose harmful, potentially illegal DEI policies and coursework on law schools nationwide.
The task force aims to determine how Congress might permanently eliminate DEI policies from American institutions, including the legal academy.
The ABA’s accreditation system is the sole recognized authority for Juris Doctor programs by the U.S. Department of Education, and graduation from an ABA‑approved law school is the typical route to taking the bar exam in most states.
During the hearing, Behnke is expected to argue that the council operates independently from the broader ABA. She highlighted a recent decision to repeal certain diversity and inclusion standards for law schools, while asserting the ABA’s continued commitment to DEI.
Behnke stated that diversity strengthens the profession, broadens understanding, and enhances public trust by ensuring the law serves all people fairly and fully.
Earlier this year, the ABA accreditation council began revising Standard 206 to remove language that permitted the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions, clarifying that individual admissions decisions need not factor identity characteristics.
In May, the council voted to repeal Standard 206, which had been suspended since February. The revision also eliminated requirements for law schools to demonstrate concrete action toward diversity in faculty and staff.
