Alerts11.13.25
Federal Courts Quash Administrative Subpoenas and Review First Amendment Subpoena Challenge, Paving the Way for Future Investigatory Subpoena Contests
Highlights
- On Sept. 9, 2025, the Western District of Massachusetts issued In re: Administrative Subpoena No. 25-1431-019, quashing an administrative subpoena that sought the production of information related to the provision of gender-affirming care at Boston Children’s Hospital and finding that the federal government failed to show a proper purpose for the subpoena.
- On Oct. 27, 2025, the Western District of Washington rejected a similar administrative subpoena on the same grounds in QueerDoc, PLLC v. U.S. Department of Justice, after the federal government sought broad categories of documents related to gender-affirming care from a telehealth provider.
- Both cases are outliers in that recipients of administrative subpoenas do not often file motions to quash because the standard for enforcement of a subpoena is a low bar for the government to meet, while the standard for proving that the government issued the subpoena for an improper purpose is difficult to satisfy.
In a rare move, two federal district courts quashed administrative subpoenas, finding they were issued for an improper government purpose. On Dec. 2, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a third case involving a First Amendment challenge to a state subpoena, addressing the scope of government subpoena authority and the options available to subpoenaed entities seeking to challenge investigatory subpoenas.
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