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If the Trump administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case that was originally brought by the federal government and is currently before the Supreme Court.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case being considered by the justices on Wednesday concerns trans rights and is referred to as United States v. Skrmetti. This means that it is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
In the upcoming month, there will be a change in government control, and it is 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 imply that there would be no need for the justices to make a decision, since both parties would then acknowledge that the law was in accordance with the constitution.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump took office. In March of that year, the Trump administration changed its stance on the rights of transgender students, leading the Supreme Court to drop a case involving a transgender boy in Virginia and his ability to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Initially, three families and a doctor challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration stepping in to support them. Both the families and the government submitted their own requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices only accepted 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 different argument, or it could refer back to the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the American Civil Liberties Union and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to their positions. For example, when the Obama administration took office, it did not change its stance on any issues. However, the first Trump administration was more daring and made significant changes to its positions in four key cases during its first full term on the Supreme Court. These changes included positions on workers’ rights and voting regulations, and the administration was successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change positions, distancing themselves from the approaches taken by the Trump administration in five instances. However, they were unsuccessful in four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf of the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on covering news related to the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar which discusses legal updates. 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, click here
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