Aaron says the HHS report likely violates federal law
Daniel AaronAssociate Professor of Law, University of Utah
Law professor Daniel Aaron said the HHS report "likely also violates federal law because it's not peer-reviewed" and questioned why a political-science report was published by a health department.
“It likely also violates federal law because it's not peer-reviewed”
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
The Guardian reports on the HHS report linking support for trans people to authoritarianism and justification of political violence. It carries criticism from epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz and law professors Daniel Aaron and Craig Konnoth, and an interview with report coauthor Colin Wright, who says the language could have been tighter while disputing the broader characterization.
Before the quotation
Commenting on the HHS report's legal standing to The Guardian.
After the quotation
No further public follow-up had been reported as of this writing.
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The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Aaron condemns the report's legal legitimacy, arguing it likely violates federal law by not being peer-reviewed and questioning HHS's role in publishing it.
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- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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
Konnoth says the report's logic would brand any medical guidance "authoritarian"
“By that standard, any medical recommendation becomes 'authoritarian'.”Read statement
Meyerowitz-Katz calls the HHS report "pseudoscience"
“a very poorly done piece of research ... the most obviously political study that I've come across ... pseudoscience”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Aaron says the HHS report likely violates federal law". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/811-law-professor-daniel-aaron-said-the-hhs-report