Supreme Court allows Trump passport sex‑marker policy to take effect during lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to let its passport sex‑marker policy take effect while litigation continues, staying a June injunction by U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick that had blocked the policy. The unsigned order—reasoning that listing sex at birth is a historical fact akin to country of birth and implicates foreign‑affairs authority, and echoing Solicitor General D. John Sauer’s argument that the president has passport authority (citing a recent ruling on transgender care)—drew dissents from the Court’s three liberal justices, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning it will harm transgender Americans barred from selecting markers such as “X.”
📌 Key Facts
- The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to enforce its passport sex‑marker policy while litigation proceeds, issuing an unsigned stay that halts a lower‑court injunction.
- The unsigned order drew dissents from the Court’s three liberal‑leaning justices; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored a dissent highlighting harms to transgender Americans forced to use gender‑incongruent passports.
- The policy stems from a January executive order that recognizes only male and female sex markers based on birth certificates and blocks transgender and nonbinary people from selecting passport markers aligned with gender identity, including 'X'.
- The Court’s majority said the policy concerns government documents with foreign‑affairs implications, likened listing sex at birth to listing country of birth as a statement of historical fact, and indicated the government is likely to succeed on the merits.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that Congress vested the president with authority over passports and cited a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on transition‑related care for minors in support of the administration’s position.
- Procedural history: District Judge Julia E. Kobick (Massachusetts) issued the June injunction blocking the policy; an appeals court left that injunction in place until the Supreme Court’s stay took effect.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi characterized the ruling as the Justice Department’s 24th emergency‑docket victory.
📰 Sources (3)
Supreme Court lets Trump admin stop issuing passports based on ‘gender identity’
New information:
- Cites the Court’s reasoning that listing sex at birth is akin to listing country of birth and is a statement of historical fact, not differential treatment.
- Names the district judge: Julia E. Kobick (Massachusetts) who issued the June injunction.
- Quotes the majority’s view that the policy concerns a government document with foreign-affairs implications and that the government is likely to succeed.
- Includes Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent highlighting harms to transgender Americans forced to use gender-incongruent passports.
- Notes AG Pam Bondi’s characterization of the ruling as the DOJ’s 24th emergency-docket victory.
Supreme Court lets Trump block transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex markers
New information:
- The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to enforce its passport sex‑marker policy while litigation proceeds, halting a lower‑court order.
- The unsigned order drew dissents from the Court’s three liberal‑leaning justices.
- The policy stems from a January executive order recognizing only male and female sex markers based on birth certificates; it blocks transgender and nonbinary people from selecting passport markers aligned with gender identity, including 'X'.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued Congress vested the president with passport authority and cited a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on transition‑related care for minors.
- Procedural history: a district judge blocked the policy in June; an appeals court left that injunction in place until today's Supreme Court stay.