The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) submitted a detailed public comment to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday, May 9, calling on the Trump administration to repeal numerous federal regulations and policies from previous administrations that ADF argues violate the U.S. Constitution.
The comment, filed in response to OMB’s “Request for Information: Deregulation,” targets rules and guidance primarily related to issues of abortion, human sexuality (including gender identity), free speech, religious liberty, and parental rights.
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Matt Bowman, ADF Senior Counsel and Director of Regulatory Practice, stated, “Our public servants should serve the best interest of American citizens, including medical personnel who seek to do no harm and people of faith who seek to serve their communities. Unfortunately, previous administrations deployed harmful policies and regulations that exceeded executive authority and overreach in the areas of abortion, human sexuality, free speech, religious liberty, and parental rights.”
Bowman added, “Now, we are urging the Trump administration to rescind these policies and, when appropriate, agree in court that these rules should be vacated nationwide.”
In its submission to OMB Director Russell Vought, ADF highlighted policies it contends force schools and medical personnel to accept gender identity ideology potentially “at the expense of biological sex,” compel doctors to perform abortion procedures violating their conscience, and remove funding from religious ministries.
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The legal organization specifically identified several regulations and guidances it seeks to have reversed or vacated:
HHS’s “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities” (May 6, 2024): ADF argues this rule illegally imposes a gender identity mandate in healthcare and insurance and urges HHS to concede it is unlawful in pending litigation to achieve nationwide vacatur quickly.
HHS’s “HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy” (Apr. 26, 2024): ADF claims this rule illegally prevents doctors from reporting harmful gender transition procedures or abortions to state officials and hinders state investigations, arguing it exceeds HIPAA’s authority. ADF seeks nationwide vacatur through pending litigation.
HHS’s “Adoption of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards” (Oct. 2, 2024): ADF asserts this rule illegally imposes a gender identity mandate on nearly all HHS grants, including Head Start, and suggests conceding in court is the most efficient path to vacatur.
OMB’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance (April 22, 2024): ADF views the codification of gender identity mandates in 2 CFR 200.300 within this guidance as legally unsupported and urges OMB to repeal it via rulemaking or disavow it as guidance.
HHS’s “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance” (May 9, 2024): ADF objects to language in the preamble of this rule stating that gender identity discrimination is covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, arguing it contradicts explicit statutory language. ADF seeks nationwide vacatur of this language in pending litigation.
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HHS’s EMTALA Abortion Mandate (July 11, 2022 memorandum): ADF criticizes this mandate requiring emergency room abortions as lacking statutory basis and notes that while courts have ruled it unlawful in some areas (like the Fifth Circuit), it remains in effect elsewhere. ADF urges HHS to rescind the memorandum.
USDA’s “Departmental Regulation, DR 4330-002, Nondiscrimination in Programs and Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance from USDA” (July 27, 2021): ADF contends this departmental regulation illegally imposed a gender identity mandate through Title IX enforcement in USDA nutrition programs without proper notice and comment and urges its repeal and court-ordered vacatur.
EEOC’s “Implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” (Apr. 19, 2024): ADF argues this rule illegally forces employers to facilitate abortions despite the Act protecting pregnancy, not requiring abortion facilitation. ADF also raises concerns about the rule’s validity due to the method by which the underlying statute was passed by the House. ADF seeks nationwide vacatur in pending litigation.
Beyond these specific rules, ADF identified 61 regulations it claims violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. ADF argues many of these regulations improperly forbid funding of religious activities or require religious organizations to separate religious activities from federally funded services, running counter to recent Supreme Court jurisprudence.
ADF emphasized that conceding in pending litigation to achieve nationwide vacatur is often the most efficient way for the administration to address these regulations, potentially avoiding lengthy new rulemaking processes that could leave the rules in place for an extended period.
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