Shanker criticizes the commissioning process for the HHS report
Adrian ShankerFormer HHS deputy assistant secretary for health policy
Shanker contrasts the report's commissioning with research practices during his service at HHS. He argues that the administration selected politically aligned researchers to support a conclusion chosen in advance.
“That's vastly different from how this administration seems to already have the answers for the reports they're publishing before they start. And they're partnering with politically-aligned researchers and think tanks to develop reports that meet a political conclusion rather than a scientific one,”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Does the HHS report support linking gender-affirming guidance to authoritarianism and violence justification?
An HHS report released on August 26, 2026 reported correlations in an online survey between agreement with five selected gender-affirmation statements, left-wing-authoritarianism scores, and stated justification for specified political-violence scenarios. HHS says the study did not measure violent behavior or intent and cannot establish causation. Critics dispute whether its measures and framing support broader conclusions about gender-affirming guidance.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
NPR examines the report's measurement choices and commissioning process and includes responses from its authors.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Shanker describes the department's earlier use of generalist science-writing contractors.
After the quotation
His criticism addresses the commissioning process rather than presenting a separate reanalysis of the study's data.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the HHS report's claim linking gender-affirmation support with authoritarianism and violence, the speaker criticizes its methods, framing or use.
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More from this case
Read the full caseWright and coauthors defend study with stated limits
“Our measures assessed endorsed justification for violence, not actually engaging in violence.”Read statement
Webberley challenges the report's use in healthcare policy
“This is not how evidence-based research works, and it is not how policy affecting trans people's healthcare should be made.”Read statement
Mason says the report's measures are not well validated
“If I were to be a peer reviewer for this paper, I would recommend that it be rejected. I just don't believe that it's written in good faith and the measures are not well validated,”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Shanker criticizes the commissioning process for the HHS report". First published: 2026-10-25. Last updated: 2026-10-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/6771-shanker-contrasts-the-report-s-commissioning-with-research