Judge Boasberg weighs curbing Trump FTC demand for trans minors’ data after heated court clash
Lawyers for a coalition of medical groups on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block the Trump administration's effort to access data on transgender procedures for minors, arguing the FTC...
By Fox News · Fox News
Lawyers for a coalition of medical groups on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block the Trump administration's effort to access data on transgender procedures for minors, arguing the FTC demand is unconstitutional and retaliatory. The case marks a high-stakes legal clash over the Trump administration’s investigation into transgender treatments for minors, with the FTC arguing it is policing potential consumer harm while medical groups say the probe is politically motivated and unconstitutional. At issue in the lawsuits, filed by the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, is the FTC's demand for information from the groups regarding "pediatric gender dysphoria treatment[s]" they provided, according to the FTC, and whether the organizations engaged in false advertising or unfair practices as part of the process. FLORIDA EXECS SENTENCED IN $233M OBAMACARE FRAUD THAT TARGETED HOMELESS, HURRICANE VICTIMS The FTC in January launched an investigation into the medical groups, and issued the Civil Investigative Demand, or CID, that prompted the lawsuit. During back-to-back hearings Tuesday, lawyers for the medical groups urged U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the FTC's wide-ranging demand for information. Plaintiffs argued the effort by the FTC was not a legitimate consumer protection effort, but rather a political effort to crack down on transgender procedures for minors and retaliate against the organizations for providing them. "Unable to prevail in the marketplace of ideas, the FTC has resorted to burdening AAP with an intrusive and expensive investigation that is unconstitutional and outside the scope of the FTC’s statutory authority," lawyers for the pediatricians' group told the court. Lawyers for the Trump administration sharply disputed that notion, however. They argued that the FTC has a mandate to ensure consumers are not misled — including in cases when medical procedures are provided to minors. Boa…