Prom
If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government is the one challenging it.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case being heard by the justices on Wednesday is about transgender rights and is known as United States v. Skrmetti. This case involves a challenge initiated by the federal government.
However, with the upcoming change in government next month, it is highly likely that the Trump administration will reject the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would imply that there is no longer any need for the judges to make a decision, as both parties would then be in agreement that the law is 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 the rights of transgender students after the Trump administration changed its stance. The case was about 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 originally challenged the Tennessee law, with the Biden administration stepping in to support 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 immediately rejecting the case, the court has the option to approve the companion petition at a later time. The court may choose to consider a different argument or could stick with the one presented on Wednesday, where a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. solicitor general representing the Biden administration will argue together on behalf of the families.
In the past, new administrations rarely made significant changes to their positions. For example, when Obama took office, he did not change positions on any issues. However, the first Trump administration was more daring in this regard. They switched positions in four important cases during their first full term in the Supreme Court, including those related to workers’ rights and voting rolls, and they were successful in all four cases.
The Biden administration has not hesitated to change their stance on various issues, distancing themselves from the policies of the previous Trump administration. In five instances, they disagreed with the previous administration’s approaches, but were only successful in four of those cases, as reported by Thomas Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Adam Liptak is a journalist who focuses on covering the Supreme Court and writing about legal updates in his column called Sidebar. 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.
Prom
Page Directory
Navigation to Site Information