On February 28, Judge Lauren King approved Washington state's request for an injunction blocking President Trump's executive orders targeting Transgender youth and gender-affirming care. This decision came after Judge King granted a temporary restraining order against Trump's efforts to withhold research and education grants from medical institutions that offer gender-affirming care to youth.

"The injunction means that the administration cannot enforce or implement the challenged orders to defund providers or gender-affirming care in the plaintiff states," Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for the Washington Attorney General's Office, told the SGN. "That injunction will stay in effect until further order of the district court or an appellate court."

The injunction paperwork cites two of Trump's executive orders: the declaration that "women are biologically female, and men are biologically male," and one that targets gender-affirming care for Transgender youth. When Judge King approved the preliminary injunction, the court agreed that the plaintiffs — including the attorneys general of Minnesota, Oregon, and California, and three individual doctors — could likely prove that these orders violate the US Constitution's Equal Protection Clause by singling out Transgender people for mistreatment and discrimination, and the principle of separation of powers.

"The administration could appeal the entry of the preliminary injunction but has not done so yet, or stated explicitly that it will do so," Faulk said, adding that the deadline for the appeal is April 29.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said Congress has already approved funding for research and education at medical institutions in the state, and that the president cannot overrule Congress on this matter. Brown also stated that the president does not have the authority to regulate and criminalize Washington's medical practices, which are protected under the Tenth Amendment.

"The president's disregard for the Constitution is obvious and intentional," Brown said. "But once again, states and the courts have stepped up to affirm the rule of law and the values that hold us together as a nation."