How DEI Principles Are Reshaping Organ Transplant Practices and Ethics

Did the Biden administration secretly use DEI to determine who gets life-saving organ transplants? A Trump-aligned legal group is demanding answers after federal agencies stonewalled their requests for information about potential race-based allocation systems.

At a glance:

• America First Legal (AFL), founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller, has sued federal health agencies for withholding documents about DEI initiatives in organ transplantation

• The lawsuit targets the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Health Resources Services Administration

• AFL claims Biden’s administration replaced traditional fairness principles with race-conscious criteria in healthcare decisions

• The group filed a Freedom of Information Act request in April 2023 but has not received the requested documents

• The legal battle aims to uncover whether life-saving organ transplants are being allocated based on race rather than medical need

MAGA Law Group Takes On Biden’s DEI Healthcare Agenda

America First Legal (AFL), a conservative legal organization founded by former Trump White House advisor Stephen Miller, has launched a legal battle against federal health agencies. The lawsuit seeks to uncover how the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda may have influenced the nation’s organ transplant system.

The lawsuit specifically targets the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). These agencies oversee the critical systems that determine who receives life-saving organ transplants across the country.

MAGA law group fights to expose how Biden’s DEI agenda may have tainted life-saving organ transplants https://t.co/tTuB61RfAd

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 2, 2025

Records Request Stonewalled by Federal Agencies

The legal action follows AFL’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in April 2023, which sought internal documents related to the Biden administration’s DEI initiatives in organ transplantation. Despite legal requirements to respond promptly, the federal agencies have failed to provide the requested information.

“The Biden Administration infected the federal government with ‘equity,’ replacing traditional principles of fairness and need with race-conscious criteria,” said America First Legal Counsel Will Scolinos. The lawsuit aims to force transparency from an administration that AFL claims has prioritized ideological goals over medical necessity.

/1BREAKING — AFL just SUED HHS, CMS, and HRSA to expose an ILLEGAL Biden-era plan to give out organ transplants based on RACE and ETHNICITY — not medical need.

DEI in healthcare is DEADLY. pic.twitter.com/qMgo4cvOk8

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) July 2, 2025

Executive Order 13985, signed by President Biden in January 2021, directed federal agencies to assess and address barriers faced by underserved communities. This directive has reportedly led to sweeping changes across federal healthcare policies, including organ transplantation guidelines.

Fighting for Colorblind Healthcare

In December 2021, CMS actively sought public comments on advancing equity and reducing disparities in organ transplantation. The agency highlighted concerns about communities of color having higher rates of conditions leading to kidney disease while being less likely to receive transplants.

“The last administration’s pervasive directives requiring consideration of immutable characteristics like race, color, and ethnicity — to make healthcare more ‘equitable’ — should concern all Americans,” Scolinos stated. AFL’s lawsuit reflects growing conservative concerns that medical decisions are being influenced by political agendas rather than clinical necessity.

HRSA has already announced changes to how race and ethnicity information for organ donors is labeled, ostensibly to improve data clarity. Critics worry these changes may be part of a larger effort to prioritize racial considerations over medical urgency in allocation decisions.

The Department of Health and Human Services has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. AFL continues to push for what it describes as “colorblind” healthcare that prioritizes patient needs rather than demographic characteristics.