Judge rules that RFK Jr overstepped on trans care in major setback for Trump
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The Trump administration’s anti-trans agenda suffered a major blow on Thursday (19 March), when a federal judge in Oregon ruled that Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) overstepped his legal authority when it comes to his previous statements on trans healthcare.
In December 2025, his department issued a 12-page statement stating that “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.”
As reported by the New York Times, the judge ruled that RFK Jr overstepped his legal authority when he declared as part of that statement that providers of gender-transition medical treatments for minors “do not meet professionally recognized standards.”
This in turn provides some relief to the hospitals and healthcare professionals who provide gender-affirming care. Following the Health Secretary’s declaration in December, his department indicated they planned to investigate organisations who were continuing to provide medication to minors for gender transitions, and would also potentially bar them from receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funds.
This follows the wider pattern of anti-LGBTQ+ bills and actions that have been taken since Trump’s inauguration. Since being sworn-in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump has enacted a series of anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, many of which specifically target the trans community.
Among the orders, Trump has declared the official policy of the United States is that there are “only two sexes”, banned trans people from serving in the military and restricted gender-affirming healthcare for trans people under the age 19, as well as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the government and in the armed services.
The recent ruling on trans healthcare comes after 21 states filed a lawsuit over the 12-page declaration, claiming that the statement interfered with the power of individual states and that the federal government had attempted to unilaterally establish a national medical standard, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.
In response, the federal government’s lawyers argued RFK Jr’s declaration was “non-binding” and more like an opinion piece in a publication: “Secretary Kennedy, just like anyone else, is entitled to articulate his opinion on the safety and efficacy of emerging and controversial medical practices,” the lawyers wrote in court documents.
After a six-hour hearing on the case, Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said that RFK Jr had not followed normal procedures before publishing his declaration, and also condemned the administration’s anti-democratic tactics.
“The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as a sacred,” the judge said.
Legal experts said the decision was likely to be appealed, but it will offer some much-needed breathing space to trans youth, their parents and their medical teams in the meantime.
