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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 since the federal government originally brought the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak.
Writing from the nation
The case being reviewed by the justices on Wednesday regarding transgender rights is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a dispute 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, this would imply that there would be no further decisions for the judges to make, since both parties would concur that the law was in line with the constitution.
A similar situation occurred in 2017 when President-elect Donald J. Trump took office. In March of that year, the Trump administration changed its stance on the rights of transgender students, leading to the Supreme Court dropping a case about a transgender boy in Virginia wanting to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor initially challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration later joining their side. Both the families and the government submitted their own requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices only accepted the petition from the government.
Instead of rejecting the case, the court has the option to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court may choose to listen to a different argument, or it could stick with the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, who is representing the Biden administration as the U.S. solicitor general.
In the past, newly elected administrations typically made few changes to existing positions. For example, the Obama administration maintained the same positions when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring in its approach, changing positions in four significant cases during its first full Supreme Court term. These changes included stances on workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration succeeded in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change positions, distancing itself from the policies of the previous Trump administration in five instances. However, it was unsuccessful in four of these cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak reports on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar that discusses legal updates. He went to Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before becoming a part of The Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his page.
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