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If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court since the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
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The case being reviewed by the justices on Wednesday concerning transgender rights is titled United States v. Skrmetti. This indicates that the challenge has been initiated by the federal government.
Next month, the government’s control will shift, and it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would indicate that the justices would not need to make a decision, since both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump assumed office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case they were previously going to rule on regarding the rights of transgender students. This case involved a transgender boy in Virginia who was fighting for the right to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor were the ones who initially challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration joining their side. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, and the justices decided to only accept the petition from the government.
Instead of throwing out the case, the court has the option to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court may choose to consider a different argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the U.S. solicitor general’s office, who is representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to their positions. For example, when Obama took office, there were no changes to his administration’s positions. However, the first Trump administration made more significant changes. They altered their stance in four important cases during their first full Supreme Court term, such as those regarding workers’ rights and voting rolls, and they were successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration openly changed its stance on policies previously implemented by the Trump administration. In five instances, the Biden administration rejected the approaches taken by the previous administration, resulting in losses in four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on reporting about the Supreme Court and 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. Learn more about Adam Liptak.
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