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If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case being brought before the Supreme Court, as the federal government is the one challenging it.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case involving transgender rights being heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, the government’s control will shift next month, 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.
This typically implies that if both parties agree that the law is constitutional, there would be no need for the justices to make a decision.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump took office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided not to rule on a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case involved a transgender boy from 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 original challengers of the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration stepping in to support them. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but 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. They may choose to listen to a different argument or refer back to the one presented on Wednesday. During this time, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration will be advocating for the families involved.
In the past, new administrations would rarely change their positions. For example, the Obama administration did not change any positions when they took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring in this regard. They changed positions in four significant cases during their first full Supreme Court term, winning all four, including cases related to workers’ rights and voting rolls.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change their stance on certain issues. They rejected the strategies of the previous administration in five instances, and ended up losing four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a writer who focuses on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar about legal news. He graduated from Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his profile.
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