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If the Trump Administration changes its stance on the case, it could impact the outcome of the case before the Supreme Court because the federal government is the one who initially brought the challenge.
Written by Adam Liptak
Writing from the nation
The case being discussed in front of the judges on Wednesday involves trans rights and is known as United States v. Skrmetti, indicating that it was initiated by the federal government.
Next month, there will be a change in government control, 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 is unconstitutional.
Typically, this would indicate that there is no need for the judges to make a decision because both parties would agree that the law is constitutional.
In 2017, there was a similar incident when President-elect Donald J. Trump started his term. In March of that year, the Trump administration changed its stance on the rights of transgender students, leading to the Supreme Court dropping a case regarding a transgender boy in Virginia being able 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 decided to only accept the petition from the government.
Instead of 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 refer back to the one presented on Wednesday, where Chase Strangio from the ACLU and Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, will present their case on behalf of the families.
In the past, new administrations typically made few changes to their positions. For example, the Obama administration did not change any positions when it took office. However, the first Trump administration was more daring in this regard. It changed positions in four important cases during its first full Supreme Court term, such as those involving workers’ rights and voting rolls, and it won all four cases.
The Biden administration was not hesitant to change their stance on certain issues, distancing themselves from the approaches taken by the Trump administration. According to Thomas Wolf of the Brennan Center for Justice, they disowned the previous administration’s methods five times, but were unsuccessful in four of those instances.
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. You can find more information about Adam L
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