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What will occur with the case if the Trump Administration changes its stance? The outcome of the case in front of the Supreme Court could be impacted by the change in administration since the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Providing updates from
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday regarding trans rights is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal dispute initiated by the federal government.
The Trump administration will likely reject the Biden administration’s stance that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution once the government changes next month.
Typically, this would indicate that there would be no need for the justices to make a decision, since both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, when President-elect Donald J. Trump began his term, a similar situation occurred. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided not to proceed with a case involving the rights of transgender students. This decision came after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue. 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 stepping in 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 petition from the government.
Instead of immediately rejecting the case, the court has the option to accept the companion petition at a later time. The court may consider additional arguments or stick with the ones presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations used to make few changes to their positions. For example, the Obama administration did not change any positions when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring. It changed positions in four important cases during its first full term in the Supreme Court, including cases on workers’ rights and voting rolls, and it won all four cases.
The Biden administration has not been hesitant to change its stance on certain issues, distancing itself from the policies of the Trump administration on five occasions. However, it was unsuccessful in four of those instances, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who reports on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar, where he discusses legal news. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting to work for The New York Times in 2002. You can find out more about Adam Liptak on his profile
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