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If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case that was brought by the federal government and is currently before the Supreme Court.
Written by Adam Liptak
Providing updates from
The case being discussed by the justices on Wednesday regarding trans rights is known as United States v. Skrmetti, which refers to a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
Next month, there will be a change in government control, and it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, if both sides agreed that a law was 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 assumed office. In March of that year, the Trump administration changed its stance on transgender student rights which led to the Supreme Court dropping a case involving a transgender boy from 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 stepping in to support them. 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 may decide to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court has the option to listen to a new argument or refer back to the one presented on Wednesday, where Chase Strangio from the American Civil Liberties Union and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration, will present their arguments for the families.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to their positions. For example, when Obama took office, there were no changes in position. However, the first Trump administration was more daring in this regard. It altered positions in four significant cases during its first full term in the Supreme Court, which included issues related to workers’ rights and voter registration, and it emerged victorious in all four cases.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change its stances on certain issues. They disagreed with the methods of the Trump administration on five occasions, and ended up losing four of those cases, as recorded by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar, which discusses 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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