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The outcome of the case may be impacted if the Trump Administration changes its stance, as the federal government’s challenge could face uncertainty before the Supreme Court.
Written by Adam Liptak.
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The case being considered by the judges on Wednesday is about transgender rights and is known as United States v. Skrmetti, which indicates that it is a legal dispute initiated by the federal government.
Next month, there will be a change in government control, and it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s belief that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
This would typically indicate that the justices would have no further decisions to make, since both parties would then acknowledge that the law was constitutional.
A similar situation occurred in 2017 when President-elect Donald J. Trump was inaugurated. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case regarding the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case in question was about a transgender boy in Virginia who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor initially challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration getting involved to support them. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices decided to only accept the government’s petition.
Instead of immediately rejecting the case, the court has the option to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court may consider a new argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration, on behalf of the families involved.
In the past, new administrations typically did not change positions frequently. However, the Trump administration was more aggressive in changing positions, altering stances in four key cases during its first full term in the Supreme Court. These cases involved workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration was successful in all four instances.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change their stance on certain issues, distancing themselves from the approaches taken by the Trump administration on five occasions. However, they were unsuccessful in four of these cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar, focusing on legal news. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002.
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