‘Government overreach at its worst’: Biden slams Texas transgender investigations

President Joe Biden’s administration condemned a Texas effort to investigate the use of gender-affirming procedures on children Wednesday, in a move that promised to intensify the state’s fall election between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

The interjection from Biden and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services arrived hours after a Texas judge temporarily blocked Abbott’s administration from an investigation into the family of a 16-year-old transgender girl but did not stop the practice statewide.

A Feb. 22 directive from the governor ordered the state’s youth protection agency to inspect the use of puberty-blocking drugs or other gender-related medical procedures on children after state officials declared such care can constitute “child abuse” under state law. Abbott also called for inquiries into parents and medical providers who allegedly violate the law.

“This is government overreach at its worst,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday evening. “These actions are terrifying many families in Texas and beyond. And they must stop.”

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged families Wednesday to contact the department’s civil rights office if they were “targeted by a child welfare investigation because of this discriminatory gubernatorial order.”

HHS issued further guidance to states and child welfare agencies and said restrictions on gender-affirming care would likely violate federal law.

“HHS will take immediate action if needed," Becerra said in a statement. "HHS is closely monitoring the situation in Texas, and will use every tool at our disposal to keep Texans safe."

A spokesperson for Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president’s remarks and court ruling arrived one day after civil rights groups, a clinical psychologist and the family of a transgender girl sued Abbott and the state’s child protection agency to halt an order that’s prompted additional scorn from medical groups and local prosecutors.

Texas lawmakers have so far failed to pass legislation to outlaw gender-affirming care for adolescents with gender dysphoria. But a Feb. 18 legal opinion from state Attorney General Ken Paxton asserted such medical care qualifies as “child abuse.”

Abbott followed up with a Feb. 22 directive to Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters that ordered the youth protection agency to investigate the use of gender-affirming procedures on children and called for inquiries into parents and medical providers who allegedly violate the law.

According to a complaint filed in a state district court, the protective services department soon launched an investigation into one of its employees — who is also the parent of a transgender child.

Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum granted a temporary restraining order to pause that investigation and will convene a March 11 hearing to hear arguments over the broader fate of Abbott’s orders. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services declined to comment on Wednesday's ruling.

“We will do all that’s possible to stop these abuses of power and ensure transgender young people can receive medically recommended treatment,” ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer said in a statement after the ruling.

“We appreciate the relief granted to our clients, but this should never have happened and is unfathomably cruel,” Klosterboer said.