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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
Writing from the capital
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday regarding transgender rights is titled United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal dispute 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.
This would typically indicate that there would be no remaining decisions for the judges to make, since both parties would then be in agreement that the law was constitutional.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump assumed office. In March of that year, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss a case involving transgender rights after the Trump administration changed its stance on the issue. This case revolved around a transgender boy in Virginia who was fighting for the right to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. The Tennessee law was challenged by three families and a doctor, 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 decided to only accept the government’s petition.
Instead of throwing out the case, the court may choose to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court has the option to listen to another argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar from the Biden administration.
In the past, new administrations rarely changed their positions on important issues. While the Obama administration did not change any positions when it took office, the first term of the Trump administration was more daring. It shifted positions in four significant cases during its first full Supreme Court term, such as workers’ rights and voting procedures, and succeeded in all four cases.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change its stance on certain issues. They rejected the approaches taken by the Trump administration in five instances, but 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 the Supreme Court and writes a column called Sidebar that focuses on 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, you can find additional
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