‘ARROGANCE’: Pediatricians Align With Elias-Led Anti-Trump Group to Demand $12M in Tax Dollars

A medical group represented by a liberal legal group led by Democrat super lawyer Marc Elias is suing to force the Trump administration to pay it $12 million in taxpayer funds. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services on Christmas Eve, alleging government retaliation for opposition to administration policies. Elias is the board chairman of the Democracy Forward Foundation, which is representing the pediatric group. 

In 2025, the organization litigated 150 cases against the Trump administration, according to the recent annual impact report. The Atlantic magazine referred to Democracy Forward as the “single largest source of Trump’s legal troubles.”  

The AAP’s alliance with Democracy Forward is a “clear message about its true agenda,” HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart said in an X post on Saturday. 

“Democracy Forward’s client list reads like a who’s-who of radical special interests. Why were AAP’s grants canceled? Simple: the funding didn’t align with HHS’s mission or priorities,” Stuart said in the X post. 

“This is the same reason many other grants outside AAP were terminated. HHS is not obligated to fulfill AAP’s employment or spending desires with American taxpayer dollars,” Stuart continued. “The arrogance behind this lawsuit is staggering — AAP seems to believe it’s their money to spend as they please. Wrong! It’s our money, and its HHS’s duty to protect taxpayers from wasteful spending. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. The days of unchecked funding for radical causes are over.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., followed with a post saying, “Thank you, Mike Stuart, for stopping this wasteful spending and fiercely defending the interests of hardworking Americans.”

The litigation was filed in D.C. District Court just days after the HHS announced policies to prevent sex-rejecting surgeries and procedures on children under the age of 18. The AAP immediately denounced the policies and proposals. 

The HHS cut $12 million in funding from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has 67,000 members. The plaintiffs are asking the court to block the funding cuts and order restoration of the funding at least while the case proceeds. 

The lawsuit makes about two dozen references to gender, and 17 mentions of “gender-affirming care.” 

The complaint also alleges HHS agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration, retaliated by revoking federal grants because of the AAP’s advocacy for vaccines. 

The AAP asserts that the terminated federal funding supported efforts to prevent infant death, pediatric care in rural areas, and helping adolescents with substance abuse or mental health problems.

“These vital child health programs fund services like hearing screenings for newborns and safe sleep campaigns to prevent sudden unexpected infant death,” Mark Del Monte, the CEO of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a public statement. “We are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier.”

Neither the AAP nor Democracy Forward responded to inquiries from The Daily Signal for this story. 

In a public statement, Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said the “unlawful retaliation puts kids at risk.”

“The Department of Health and Human Services is using federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, trying to silence one of the nation’s most trusted voices for children’s well-being by cutting off critical public-health funding in retaliation for speaking the truth,” Perryman said.

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