A Federal Judge Just Slapped Down Two of Trump's Worst Anti-Trans Executive Orders
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-federal-judge-just-slapped-down-two-of-trump-s-worst-anti-trans-executive-orders/ar-AA1AlqyM?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=cf2fe7b982d64383a92d1d3c0aa5f624&ei=131
Story by Hila Keren (5 Mar 2025)
On Friday, Judge Lauren King of the United States District Court of the Western District of Washington in Seattle released a 53-page decision in Washington v. Trump. The decision transforms a previously issued temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction against two of Trump's recent anti-trans executive orders. Judge King's opinion, written under time pressure to respond to the risk of denial of gender-affirming health care for minors and adults in states that still allow it, presents a remarkable criticism of the government's arguments against providing this necessary health care. The importance of her analysis goes beyond the bottom line of the decision to enjoin the practical effects of the anti-trans orders at hand. King forcefully refutes the federal government's arguments in a way that also directly undermines whatever red states are currently arguing in their attempts to justify state laws prohibiting gender-affirming care in courts nationwide, including the Supreme Court.
King found that both orders conflicted with the Constitution's order of separation of powers because they limited spending that Congress deemed needed, namely federal research and education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals. The judge wrote that "the President does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend the funds Congress appropriates." The decision also concludes that the orders violate "the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee [that] prohibits the federal government from treating people differently based on sex or transgender status unless the government can establish an exceedingly persuasive justification."
Nice, seems like a major win, finally.