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How could the outcome of the case be impacted if the Trump Administration changes its position? The federal government’s challenge of the case means that a change in administration could have consequences for its future in front of the Supreme Court.
Written by Adam Liptak
Providing updates from
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday regarding transgender rights is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, the government will soon be under new leadership, and it is likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s stance that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would indicate that there would be no further decisions for the judges to make, as both parties would then acknowledge that the law was in line with the constitution.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred 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 the Supreme Court to drop a case involving a transgender boy in Virginia and his ability to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.
However, there is a complication in this situation. Three families and a doctor were the initial challengers of the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration supporting them. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the case, but only the government’s petition was accepted by the justices.
Instead of throwing out the case, the court might decide to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court could listen to a different argument, or it could use the one presented on Wednesday by lawyer 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 would rarely change their positions. For example, when Obama took office, they did not change any positions. However, the first Trump administration was more daring and changed positions in four important cases during its first full Supreme Court term. These cases included workers’ rights and voting rolls, and the administration was successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration did not hesitate to change its stance on certain issues. It disagreed with the methods used by the Trump administration in five instances, but only won one of those cases according to Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who specializes in covering news related to the Supreme Court and also writes a column called Sidebar which focuses on legal updates. He attended Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting his career at The New York Times in 2002.
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