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If the Trump Administration changes its stance, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court, as the federal government is the one who initiated the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the capital
The case concerning transgender rights that the justices are reviewing on Wednesday is named United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it is a legal dispute initiated by the federal government.
However, the upcoming change in government control next month will likely result in the Trump administration rejecting the Biden administration’s claim that a Tennessee law preventing certain medical treatments for transgender minors goes against the Constitution.
Typically, this would indicate that there is no longer any decision for the justices to make because both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, a similar situation occurred when President-elect Donald J. Trump began his term. 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 wanting 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 stepping in to support them. Both the families and the government submitted requests for the Supreme Court to review the case separately, and 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 choose to listen to a new argument or use the one presented on Wednesday by Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, who will be representing the Biden administration.
Previous administrations used to be cautious about changing positions. The Obama administration, for example, did not change any positions when taking office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring and changed positions in four significant 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 methods used by the previous Trump administration in five instances, but ultimately only won one out 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 that focuses on legal news. He graduated from Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for 14 years before starting at The New York Times in 2002. To learn more about Adam Liptak, click here.
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