A Dozen States Sue Trump Admin Over Gender Policy Conditions on Federal Grants

A coalition of 12 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Jan. 13, seeking to block federal grant conditions that they argue would force them to discriminate against people who identify as transgender.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys general from 12 states, challenges the Department of Health and Human Services’s (HHS’s) new policy tying health, education, and research funding to compliance with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order mandating recognition of only two sexes—male and female—in documents and communications.

The policy applies to both new and existing grants, placing ongoing state programs at risk, according to the states. Failure to comply with the order could result in termination of federal grants, repayment demands, or civil or criminal penalties by HHS.

The states argued that HHS lacks authority to impose conditions on funds appropriated by Congress and to rewrite federal statute by executive order.

“Congress has funded these programs without any requirement to exclude entities that recognize transgender, nonbinary, intersex, or gender diverse individuals,” the filing reads. “With or without congressional authorization, the states cannot be forced to accept a condition on funding that fails to provide unambiguous notice as to what it means and that is retroactive.”

The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the HHS policy is unlawful and an injunctive relief barring the agency from enforcing it.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the coalition, said Trump’s executive order conflicts with laws in many states.

“This policy threatens health care for families, life-saving research, and education programs that help young people thrive in favor of denying the dignity and existence of transgender people,” James said in a statement.

James was joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state.

The Epoch Times reached out to HHS for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.

HHS last month announced regulatory actions to end “sex-rejecting procedures” on children in accordance with Trump’s executive order.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a declaration 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, and therefore, fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS, proposed rules to prevent hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid from performing the procedures and block federal funding for them.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.