Daniel G. Aaron is an associate professor of law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. His research examines the effects of legal and regulatory systems on public health. He earned his law degree at Harvard University and his medical degree at Boston University. He previously was assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and clerked for Judge John K. Bush of the Sixth Circuit.
DI has documented statements by Daniel Aaron on Health Care, Political Violence, and Scientific Research. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Associate Professor of Law, University of Utah
Condemned
Statement summary
Law professor Daniel Aaron said the HHS report "likely also violates federal law because it's not peer-reviewed" and questioned why a political-science report was published by a health department.
“It likely also violates federal law because it's not peer-reviewed”
Open source (opens in a new tab)‘Nakedly political’: US attempts to link trans support to authoritarianism in new health department reportPublished September 7, 2026; updated September 8, 2026; comments from Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, Daniel Aaron, Craig Konnoth and Colin Wright
Why we used 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.
An HHS survey report linked selected gender-affirmation beliefs with higher authoritarianism scores and stated political-violence justification. Its authors say it does not establish causation or measure violence; critics dispute its measures and broader framing.
