The federal government just switched sides in a major Supreme Court case. Here’s what it means

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The federal government just switched sides in a major Supreme Court case. Here’s what it means

An expected legal move just became official: the Trump administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that it’s abandoning the Biden administration’s position in a major case on transgender minors.

Through legal briefs and oral arguments, the Biden administration had fought against a state-level ban on certain gender-related medical procedures, offering support to the families involved in the case, who are represented by the ACLU and other civil rights organizations.

Now, the Trump administration has expressed support for the Tennessee law the families challenged, arguing that SB1 does not violate the Constitution.

“The Department has now determined that SB1 does not deny equal protection on account of sex or any other characteristic. Accordingly, the new Administration would not have intervened to challenge SB1 — let alone sought this Court’s review of the court of appeals’ decision reversing the preliminary injunction against SB1,” wrote

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, the deputy solicitor general, to the Supreme Court clerk.

If there was anything surprising about the Trump administration’s move, it was that federal officials asked justices to move forward with the case.

Rather than request a dismissal of U.S. v. Skrmetti, Gannon wrote that it would be best for the country if the court issues a ruling by early July as planned.

Ben Appel, of New York, right, who describes himself as a gay man who is concerned that gender nonconformity is being medicalized, rallies with others who support a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. | Jacquelyn Martin

Skrmetti case

The Supreme Court case on Tennessee’s SB1 asks the justices to determine whether a ban on certain types of gender-related treatments, such as hormone therapy, fuels sex discrimination by making access to care dependent on a patient’s sex at birth.

During oral arguments in December, several justices appeared concerned about the state of health care for transgender children and teens.

They raised questions about the risks and benefits, noting that the science seems to be unsettled, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

Then-U.S. solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar was one of two attorneys fighting against SB1.

She attempted to assuage the justices’ concerns about medical treatment for transgender children and teens, noting that ruling against the Tennessee law would not be the same thing as ruling in favor of controversial treatments.

Prelogar said that SB1 needed to be subjected to heightened legal scrutiny because it draws sex-based lines between patients and therefore amounts to sex discrimination.

Trump administration on transgender minors

By the end of the oral argument session in December, it appeared likely that the Supreme Court would allow SB1 to take effect.

That’s probably the key reason why the Trump administration has not asked for the case to be dismissed.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Tennessee officials, it would go a long way toward resolving the question of what states can and can’t do when it comes to regulating gender-related health care procedures.

As it stands, legal experts disagree on existing restrictions, which explains why multiple cases about transgender children, as well as transgender adults, are currently waiting on the Supreme Court’s doorstep.

Switching sides in Supreme Court case

As recently as a decade ago, the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the Biden administration’s position in the Skrmetti case would have been controversial.

In the past, the solicitor general’s office typically operated above the fray of partisan politics, according to

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.

That changed when President Donald Trump first took office in 2017, and former President Joe Biden did not return to the status quo.

“President Donald Trump’s first administration dramatically shifted positions in four cases,” The Washington Post reported. “The Biden administration also flipped positions in at least a half dozen cases.”

Since taking office on Jan. 20, the Trump 2.0 team has asked for changes to five pending cases in addition to the Skrmetti case on transgender minors, which has already been fully briefed and argued.

The

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on Thursday declined to hit pause on four of the pending cases, which are all about the environment, but agreed to hold off on acting on the fifth, which is about student debt relief, per

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.

In a joint statement released Friday, the groups representing the families fighting Tennessee’s law criticized the Trump administration’s letter to the Supreme Court.

“Tennessee’s discriminatory and baseless ban continues to upend the lives of our plaintiffs — transgender adolescents, their families, and a medical provider. These Tennesseans have had their Constitutional right to equal protection under the law violated by the state of Tennessee. This latest move from the Trump administration is another indication that they are using the power of the federal government to target marginalized groups for further discrimination. We condemn this latest move and will continue to fight to vindicate the constitutional rights of all LGBTQ people,” read the statement from the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal and Akin Gump.

If the Supreme Court follows the Trump administration’s recommendation to continue with the Skrmetti case, the justices’ decision is expected by early July.

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