Trump-Appointed Judge Calls Administration's Behavior 'Appalling' In 24-Page Ruling

Source: Huff Post

May 14, 2026, 07:18 PM EDT | Updated 11 hours ago


A federal judge blasted the Trump administration for its “reckless” efforts to mislead and manipulate the courts, and target transgender youth by pressuring hospitals to disclose sensitive medical information, according to an order issued Wednesday night.

Judge Mary S. McElroy, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island by President Donald Trump in 2019, halted the Department of Justice’s subpoena into more than five years of records about transgender minor patients at Brown Health’s Rhode Island Hospital. “The DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case,” McElroy wrote in a 24-page ruling. “Its representatives have, under oath, misrepresented salient facts.”

McElroy’s ruling is the latest blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain private medical information about transgender youth and their healthcare providers. Thus far, seven other federal courts have blocked the DOJ from enforcing its subpoenas, finding that they were issued for an “improper purpose.”

“The Administration has publicly characterized gender affirming care for minors as abuse, directed the DOJ to bring its practice to an end, and celebrated when hospitals curtailed such programs as a result of this subpoena campaign,” McElroy wrote.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-immediately-appeals-to-subpoena-trans-patients-health-records-after-judge-blocks-attempt_n_6a063dcde4b098065be8a659?origin=home-latest-news-unit