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What will occur with the case if the Trump Administration changes its position? The future outcome of the case before the Supreme Court may be impacted by the switch in administration since the federal government initiated the challenge.
Authored by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday is related to transgender rights and is titled United States v. Skrmetti. This means that the case is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, the government’s control will shift next month, and it is highly 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.
Typically, this would imply that there would be no need for the justices to make a decision because both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, a comparable situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump was inaugurated. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case involving the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case originally involved a transgender boy from 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 joining their side. Both the families and the government submitted separate requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, and the justices only accepted the one from the government.
Instead of completely throwing out the case, the court has the option to approve a petition that was filed later than usual. The court might choose to listen to a new argument, or they could stick with the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations typically did not change their positions frequently. When President Obama took office, there were no changes in positions. However, President Trump’s first administration was more daring in this regard. They changed their positions in four significant cases during their first full Supreme Court term, including issues related to workers’ rights and voter registration, and they were successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change their stance on issues previously supported by the Trump administration. In five instances, they disapproved of the previous approaches and ended up losing in four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering news related to the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar, which focuses on legal changes and updates. 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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