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If the Trump Administration changes its position on the case, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak.
Dispatched from the
The case being considered by the justices on Wednesday is known as United States v. Skrmetti, which involves a legal challenge initiated by the federal government regarding trans rights.
However, the government is set to shift control next month, and it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s stance that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, if both sides agree that a law is constitutional, there would be no need for the justices to make a decision on the matter.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump began his term. 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’ restroom at his high school.
However, there is a complicating factor in this situation. Three families and a doctor initially challenged the Tennessee law, and the Biden administration joined in support of them. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices only accepted the government’s petition.
Instead of throwing out the case, the court may decide to approve the petition that was filed later. They might choose to hear additional arguments or stick to the ones presented on Wednesday by the lawyer for the families, Chase Strangio from the ACLU, and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations rarely changed their positions on legal cases. However, the Trump administration was more willing to do so, making significant changes in four major cases during its first Supreme Court term. These changes included issues related to workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration was successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change its stance on certain issues, distancing itself from the policies of the Trump administration in five instances. However, they were unsuccessful in four of these cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering news related to the Supreme Court and also writes a column called Sidebar focusing on 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, visit
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