Trump Administration Issues First Criminal Grand Jury Subpoenas to Hospitals for Records on Transgender Procedures for Minors

The Trump administration sent its first known criminal subpoenas to hospitals that provided gender-affirming care for young trans people, The Intercept reported. U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas.

The subpoena demands information about teens who received care from NYU Langone’s now-shuttered trans youth health program as well as details on the medical staff who provided that care. NYU Langone posted a public notice to inform affected patients in accordance with a New York state shield law. The notice said several other institutions had received similar subpoenas.

Those subpoenas demand information pertaining to patients under the age of 18 who received gender affirming care between 2020 and 2026. NYU Langone’s Transgender Youth Health Program has been ended. More than 40 hospital systems have stopped providing necessary medical care to trans youth based on the Trump administration’s threats.

A federal court in April ruled that the government cannot withhold funding over trans healthcare provision. Earlier this year, the families of six trans teens who had received treatment at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles filed a motion to quash an administrative subpoena. The motion to quash was filed on behalf of themselves and more than 3,000 other transgender youth patients and families.

A settlement was reached in which the government withdrew the subpoena requests seeking patient-identifying information from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. A federal judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled earlier this month that Rhode Island Hospital in Providence must comply with a Justice Department administrative subpoena for trans youth patient information.

The Rhode Island Hospital subpoena sought names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and medical records.

The Rhode Island Office of Child Advocate filed an emergency motion to quash the request. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy slammed the Justice Department for conducting a “fishing expedition” by seeking medical records and patient information.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy said the case was quite clearly “shopped” to Texas. Previous administrative subpoenas for confidential patient information have been reliably quashed in courts around the country.

The Langone subpoena marks an escalation into a criminal investigation. It remains unclear what charges prosecutors could be pursuing. The Justice Department’s actions appear aimed at providers rather than patients or guardians.

Hospitals that have already ended programs in response to funding threats continue to face scrutiny. NYU Langone ended its program last year after federal threats to withhold funding despite the subsequent April court ruling. Patients and families have successfully challenged similar demands in the past through motions to quash.

The stakes for resisting a criminal grand jury subpoena are higher than in civil cases, with potential fines or jail time for individuals. Institutions risk costly class actions if they hand over private information.

U.S. Attorney for Northern Texas, everyone’s privacy, everyone’s healthcare, everyone’s civil rights are compromised,” Brad Lander wrote on Bluesky. “NYU caved and ended care and they’re still being hit with a grand jury subpoena. It’s incredibly clear that no amount of preemptive compliance will stop this attack,” Harvard Law instructor Alejandra Caraballo wrote on Bluesky.