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If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Reporting from the nation
The case being discussed by the justices on Wednesday concerns trans rights and is known as United States v. Skrmetti, which indicates that it is a legal dispute initiated by the federal government.
However, the government’s control will shift next month, and it is likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
This typically implies that the justices would have no decision to make, as both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
A similar situation occurred in 2017 when President-elect Donald J. Trump assumed office. In March of that year, the Trump administration changed its stance on transgender student rights, leading the Supreme Court to drop a case involving a transgender boy in Virginia who wanted 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 supporting them. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for review by the Supreme Court, and the justices decided to only accept the government’s petition.
Instead of immediately rejecting the case, the court has the option to approve the companion petition at a later time. They may choose to listen to a different argument or refer back to the one presented on Wednesday, where lawyer Chase Strangio from the American Civil Liberties Union will present alongside Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to their positions. The Obama administration, for example, did not alter any positions when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring. It changed positions on four significant cases during its first complete Supreme Court term, including those involving workers’ rights and voting rolls, and it won all four cases.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change stances, as shown by disavowing the methods used by the Trump administration in five instances. In four of those cases, they were unsuccessful, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who reports on the activities of 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. To learn more about Adam Liptak, visit his page
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