Federal judge declines to block DOJ efforts nationwide to obtain trans youth medical records

Maryland U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin, a Biden-era appointee, rejected a first-of-its-kind bid from transgender advocates that would establish a national order preventing Trump’s Justice Department from strong-arming hospital systems and service providers into giving away sensitive patient information about trans minors who receive gender-affirming care, per Reuters.

Rubin heard arguments Tuesday from families of transgender children and LGBTQ+ legal advocates seeking certification of a class action lawsuit against the DOJ that would have blocked the department from pressuring hospitals to share private medical records.

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Although she previously struck down the DOJ’s effort to obtain the records of trans minors from Washington, D.C.’s Children’s National Hospital in January 2026, according to GLAD Law, finding that the “subpoena lacks a legitimate purpose,” the judge denied certification of the novel class action lawsuit that would prevent similar efforts by the DOJ nationally. She did not issue an order from the bench but later made her final decision on the matter, Baltimore's NBC affiliate, WBAL, reported. According to Reuters, she was unable to make the “unprecedented” decision to certify the national lawsuit on Wednesday.

She did reaffirm her previous decision to quash the DOJ’s subpoena seeking the names of transgender patients from Children’s National Hospital and said the plaintiffs’ “arguments are well-taken,” Reuters reported. Rubin is among several judges who have blocked Trump’s DOJ from obtaining records related to transgender youth through subpoenas, including U.S. District Judge P. Casey PittsP. Casey Pitts in California and U.S. District Judge Mary McElroyMary McElroy in Rhode Island.

“Movants' request for class treatment is simply an ill fit for the matter before the court and the relief they seek,” Rubin wrote in her decision.

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The proposed class action would have included 11 families of transgender minors backed by LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organizations. According to Reuters, they argued that without nationwide protections established through a class action, the DOJ could continue to subpoena hospitals and obtain sensitive records before judges had an opportunity to quash those requests. The effort followed DOJ subpoenas sent to more than 20 major medical systems, including NYU Langone Health, seeking information related to patients who received gender-affirming care as minors.

“This is pure intimidation,” Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for LGBTQ+ Rights, said at the hearing.”This administration has targeted this very small group of families, families with transgender kids. This administration does not like transgender people. They want to stop this health care, and they are abusing their power to literally try to intimidate and harass doctors and parents in order to further that political goal."