Trump Administration Seeks Supreme Court Intervention on Transgender Inmate Healthcare Policy

Why it matters locally: The legal challenge to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy originated and is being litigated in federal courts located in Washington, D.C., meaning the rulings directly impact the judicial workload and legal precedent established within the District's jurisdiction.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Monday requested the Supreme Court intervene in a legal challenge to a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy regarding healthcare for transgender inmates. The administration seeks to block a federal judge's order that currently prohibits the BOP from enforcing the policy. The policy, adopted in February 2026, stops transgender inmates from receiving gender-transition surgeries, hormone therapy, and certain social accommodations, including makeup, wigs, and padding. This policy replaced a February 2025 version, which implemented an executive order signed by President Donald Trump shortly after his second inauguration. That order directed the attorney general to prevent federal funds from being used for medical procedures, treatments, or drugs intended to conform an inmate's appearance to the opposite sex. The BOP stated it adopted the February 2026 policy independently of the executive order. The bureau provided an administrative record and a 43-page memorandum, attributing the policy change to "the latest scientific information." The BOP indicated that earlier policies relied on recommendations from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a group it said prison administrators deemed to have "unreliable" and "unpersuasive" standards. Additionally, the BOP expressed concerns that providing gender-affirming care could expose transgender prisoners to "attacks," "raise fairness concerns," and "breed resentment among other inmates." Three transgender inmates filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued an order on August 26, barring the BOP from implementing its 2026 policy. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit subsequently rejected the government’s request to pause Lamberth’s order. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer submitted the request to the Supreme Court. Sauer contended that the district court, by blocking the policy, "substitute[d] its own policy judgment for that of the" BOP. He also stated the district court "rel[ied] on evidence outside the administrative record, and fault[ed] the agency for following presidential directions." Sauer added that Judge Lamberth "denied prison administrators the substantial deference they are due." Sauer argued that if Lamberth's order remains in effect, the government will experience permanent harm, asserting it "interferes with" prison "administrators’ ‘expert judgment’ on how best to operate federal correctional facilities across the Nation." The Supreme Court has set a deadline of 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 8, for the challengers to respond to the Trump administration's request.