The Holiday Miracle

This article by Stephen Jackson was originally published in the Spring 2026 issue of The Federal Lawyer.

On December 12, 2025, something remarkable happened in Washington. If you missed it, I’m not surprised because it did not garner a headline in the New York Times or the Washington Post and, as far as I know, none of the major broadcast networks or Sun-day news shows devoted any time to it. So, you may ask, how could it have been all that important? Simple. President Donald Trump signed into law the Foun-dation of the Federal Bar Charter Amendments Act. With the stroke of a pen, the President empowered the Foundation to make some long overdue changes to its governance and procedures.

The Foundation belongs to a rather select group of organizations with a Congressional charter. Ours was granted in 1954 and remained unchanged for the past 71 years. Along with the prestige comes restrictions on how the Foundation operates and what we are allowed to do. Because we were created by Congress, any modifications to those restrictions literally require an act of Congress. In the current, highly polarized politi-cal climate on Capitol Hill, that is easier said than done even for a group that prides itself on the avoidance of political entanglements. In fairness, the enactment of this important legislation did not happen overnight and was almost a decade in the making. Back in 2016, our then-lobbyist and now Vice-President, Bruce Moyer, led the effort to obtain passage of the bill in the 114th Congress with bipartisan support. It failed. Undeterred, the Foundation continued its efforts in successive Congresses but could never get it through the Senate.

Finally, with the help of its outside counsel, Cissy Jackson and Dan Renberg, and much hard work by Foundation members, the legislation passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the President. So, with all of that buildup, what’s the big deal? What does that allow the Foundation to do that it could not do in the past seven decades? Simple. It gives you, as a Foundation supporter, more say in how the organization is run and how it accomplishes its mission. Specifically, since its creation in 1954, the Foundation has evolved from the librarian for the Federal Bar Association to the conduit for its philanthropy. We now manage donations that are paid out in the form of grants and scholarships and in support of programs for local chapters of the FBA. The Amendments Act gives us more latitude and references our articles of incorporation and bylaws as controlling documents. The same may be said for the determina-tion of eligibility for membership in the Foundation.

The Foundation is governed by its Board of Directors, and the Amendments Act provides for a less restrictive approach to governance. Rather than being eligible to serve two six-year terms, the Board will be determining shorter terms and limits for Directors. This will allow for a greater influx of new Directors and make the Board more responsive to Founda-tion supporters. Because the Board relies upon the Foundation’s articles of incorporation and bylaws, the Amendments Act validates that reliance and, in so doing, gives the Board more leeway than it had under the original Charter. In short, the Board has greater freedom to manage the affairs of the Foundation. The Amendments Act also allows the Board to establish re-strictions on directors and officers that are consistent with other Congressionally chartered organizations. As a supporter of the Foundation, we hope that you will participate in its governance and the allocation of its resources to do the most good for the legal com-munity. If you have ideas on how the Foundation can be improved, please contact me or any member of the Board via foundation@fedbar.org and let us know.