Judge Hits Donald Trump With Legal Setback: ‘Unconstitutional’

A Washington state judge has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order on transgender care.

Why It Matters

The Washington state federal judge who imposed the restraining order, Lauren King, had granted a temporary restraining order last week after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration.

That temporary restraining order came one day after a federal judge in Baltimore temporarily blocked the executive order in response to a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children. The temporary restraining orders are just the first step in a long fight to overturn the executive order.

Newsweek sought email comment on Monday from the offices of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown.

What To Know

On January 28, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order entitled: “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”

Trump’s order blocks “the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex” and bans “surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex”

The executive order also blocks federal funding to doctors who give such treatments to transgender minors.

On Sunday, February 16, King imposed a preliminary injunction on Trump’s executive order.

In her written ruling, King found the order unconstitutional on several grounds.

Addressing the blocking of federal funding, she wrote: “This oversteps the President’s authority under the separation of powers.”

He also noted that the executive order would make it a criminal offense for doctors to give gender realignment treatment to minors and said this was also unconstitutional, as it “purports to expand the scope of criminalized conduct in another federal statute” and this “trespasses beyond the President’s powers under the Constitution.”

“These are not the only ways the Executive Order is unconstitutional,” she added.

“The Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause prohibits the federal government from treating people differently based on sex or transgender status unless such differential treatment” unless it serves important governmental objectives and is substantially related to the achievement of those objectives.

What People Are Saying

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on February 14, after King imposed her initial temporary restraining order, Washington State Attorney General, Nick Brown, wrote: “A huge victory for Washington’s youth, the trans community, parents and health care providers today when a federal judge granted our request to pause the president’s illegal order blocking funding for gender-affirming care. Providers can now get back to work serving our youth.”

“I am so proud of the team that put this lawsuit together. They worked long hours to draft it, took more than 100 statements from Washingtonians affected by the cruel executive order and gave a winning argument in court today.”

What Happens Next

As King has moved from a temporary to a preliminary injunction, her order can now be appealed.

The Trump administration will likely appeal to a federal circuit court and the case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, given that several states are involved in the conflict.