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What will occur to the legal case if the Trump Administration changes its stance? The outcome of the case before the Supreme Court may be impacted by the change in administration, as the federal government is the one who initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak.
Writing from the nation
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday is about transgender rights and is known as United States v. Skrmetti. This means that the challenge is being brought forth by the federal government.
The government’s control is set to shift next month, 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, this would indicate that there would be no further need for the judges to make a decision, as both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump began his term. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to not proceed with a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case in question was about a transgender boy in Virginia who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complicating factor. Three families and a doctor initially challenged the Tennessee law, and the Biden administration joined their side. 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 government’s petition.
Instead of immediately dismissing the case, the court has the option to consider granting the companion petition at a later time. They may choose to hear additional arguments, or they could base their decision on the arguments presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the U.S. solicitor general, who is representing the Biden administration.
Historically, new administrations have been cautious about changing positions. Unlike the Obama administration, which kept their positions upon taking office, the first Trump administration was more daring. They changed positions in four significant cases during their first full Supreme Court term, winning in all cases, including those concerning workers’ rights and voting rolls.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change their stance on certain issues. They rejected the methods used by the Trump administration five times, but were unsuccessful in four of those instances, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on reporting about the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar about legal news. He went to Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his page on The Times website.
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