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If the Trump Administration changes its position, it could impact the outcome of the case that is currently before the Supreme Court, as the federal government is the one who initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Reporting live from the
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday regarding transgender rights is titled United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal dispute initiated by the federal government.
Next month, the government will undergo a change in leadership, with the Trump administration likely to reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors is unconstitutional.
Typically, this would indicate that there would be no unresolved issues for the judges to rule on, since both parties would agree that the law is in line with the constitution.
In 2017, there was a similar situation when President-elect Donald J. Trump assumed office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided not to rule on a case involving the rights of transgender students. This was after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue. The case 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 stepping in to support them. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, and the justices only agreed to hear 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 choose to listen to a new argument or refer back to the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the U.S. solicitor general, who is representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations rarely changed their positions. For example, the Obama administration did not change any positions when it took office. The first Trump administration, however, was more daring. It changed its positions in four significant cases during its first full Supreme Court term, winning all four cases. These cases included issues related to workers’ rights and voting rolls.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change its stance on various issues. It rejected the approaches taken by the previous Trump administration on five occasions, and ended up losing in four of those instances, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering the Supreme Court and writing about legal news in his column, Sidebar. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting his career at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his page on The
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