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If the Trump Administration changes its position, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court since the federal government was the one who originally brought the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the nation
The case before the judges on Wednesday regarding transgender rights is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, the government’s control is expected to shift next month, and it is likely that the Trump administration will reject the argument made by the Biden administration that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would indicate that there is no longer a need for the justices 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 took office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. 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 originally challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration supporting their position. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but only the government’s petition was accepted by the justices.
Instead of rejecting the case, the court may choose to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court may decide to listen to a different argument or stick to the one presented on Wednesday, where a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union, Chase Strangio, will argue with Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, who is representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to existing positions. For example, the Obama administration did not change any positions when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more bold in its approach. It changed positions in four significant cases during its first full Supreme Court term, which included issues related to workers’ rights and voting rolls. The administration was successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change its stance on certain issues. It rejected the strategies used by the previous Trump administration on five occasions, but was unsuccessful in four of those instances, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who writes 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 at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his page.
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