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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 initially brought the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Updating from the capital
The case regarding trans rights that was presented to the justices on Wednesday is known as United States v. Skrmetti, as it involves a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, the government will be under new leadership 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 is unconstitutional.
Typically, this would indicate that there would be no further decisions for the judges to make, since both parties would agree that the law was in line with the constitution.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump was inaugurated. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided not to proceed with a case involving the rights of transgender students. This decision came after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue. The case in question revolved around 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 the Supreme Court to review the case, but 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. The court may consider a different 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, who is representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically did not change their positions often. The Obama administration, for example, did not change positions on any cases when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring and changed positions in four major cases during its first full Supreme Court term. These cases involved workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration was successful in all four instances.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change its stance on certain issues. It rejected the strategies used by the Trump administration five times, but only won one of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who reports on the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar about legal news. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. Learn more about Adam Liptak.
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