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What will occur with the case if the Trump Administration changes its stance? The outcome of the case before the Supreme Court may be influenced by the change in administration since the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Reporting from the nation
The legal case regarding transgender rights that the justices are considering on Wednesday is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a dispute initiated by the federal government.
However, the upcoming change in government leadership next month is likely to result in the Trump administration rejecting the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would indicate that there would be no further decisions for the judges to make, 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 no longer proceed with a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case revolved around a transgender boy in Virginia wanting to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. The Tennessee law was first challenged by three families and a doctor, with support from the Biden administration. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but only the government’s petition was accepted.
Instead of completely rejecting the case, the court may decide to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court has the option to listen to another argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the U.S. solicitor general’s office. They will be representing the families and the Biden administration, respectively.
In the past, new administrations typically did not change their positions often. However, the Obama administration did not change any positions when they took office. On the other hand, the first Trump administration made significant changes in four major cases during its first full term in the Supreme Court. These changes included positions on 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 policies previously implemented by the Trump administration. According to Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice, out of five cases where the Biden administration disavowed the previous approaches, it lost in four instances.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar that discusses legal news. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting his career at The New York Times in 2002. Learn more about Adam Liptak.
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