Trump takes transgender inmate care fight to Supreme Court for 41st time
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump's fight against gender affirming surgeries is back in the limelight with a fresh appeal asking the top court to lift the block on the federal government's policy restricting transgender inmates’ access to hormone treatments and other such surgeries.
The policy introduced by the administration is essentially a complete ban on gender-affirming medical care for federal inmates. As per a policy of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), inmates currently receiving hormone treatments would be put on a tapering plan.
Trump asks High Court to step in on policy affecting federal inmates
The Trump administration officially asked the US Supreme Court on Monday, September 28, to step in and lift a lower court's block. The administration is seeking permission to immediately enforce its new Federal Bureau of Prisons rules.
Prison officials are also stopped from providing social accommodations, like hair-removal devices, to help inmates transition.
Appeals court declines Trump request to lift ban on restrictive policy
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, considering the policy likely illegal, declined to lift the judge’s block in a 2-1 vote.
“In nullifying BOP’s exercise of its statutorily conferred authority to adopt a policy that prison administrators have determined is necessary to maintain institutional security, the court’s order causes irreparable harm to the government and to the public,” Solicitor General D John Sauer wrote in court filings.
The case heads to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts takes emergency matters arising from the nation’s capital. He can take the matter alone or refer it to the full court for a vote.
This is reportedly the Trump administration’s 41st such appeal since taking office, in which the government has asked the court to intervene to restore an aspect of the president’s agenda that a federal judge has blocked.
What is the case
The underlying lawsuit began last year, when transgender inmates filed a class-action challenge to officials ending their access to gender-affirming care in prison. At the current stage, the legal battle concerns a February 2026 statement the BOP issued formalizing the policy.
The directive came after Trump, on his first day back in office, ordered that no federal funds be spent on medical procedures “for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite” gender.
It was part of a broader push against what his administration calls “gender ideology.”
The conservative-majority court has recently handed down major decisions enabling states to bar transgender girls from competing on women’s sports teams in schools and to restrict transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care.
