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If the Trump Administration changes its stance on the case, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government is the one who initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the nation
The case on trans rights being heard by the judges on Wednesday is known as United States v. Skrmetti, which indicates that it is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
Next 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 restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors is unconstitutional.
This typically indicates that there would be no need for the judges 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 not to rule on a case about the rights of transgender students, specifically regarding a transgender boy in Virginia who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school. This decision came after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor first brought the challenge against 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 decided to only accept the petition from the government.
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 additional arguments, or it may refer back to the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically avoided making significant changes to their positions. When the Obama administration took office, it did not reverse any positions. However, the first Trump administration was more daring. It altered its stance on four major cases during its first full Supreme Court term, including issues related to workers’ rights and voting rolls. The administration succeeded in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change their stance on certain issues. They rejected the methods used by the Trump administration five times, but only won one of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a writer for The New York Times who focuses on Supreme Court news and also writes a column called Sidebar about legal updates. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The Times in 2002.
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