Trump Administration Seeks Supreme Court Order to Limit Transgender Care in Federal Prisons

The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal on Monday asking the Supreme Court to permit federal prison officials to withhold certain gender-affirming medical services for transgender inmates, including hormone therapy and surgeries. The request comes as the Bureau of Prisons’ policy, enacted early in the former president’s second term and later revised after court challenges, continues to allow psychotherapy and psychiatric care for gender dysphoria but excludes hormone treatments, surgical procedures and "social accommodations."

The appeal reached the 6-3 conservative court amid a series of recent rulings that have limited transgender rights, such as state bans on care for minors and restrictions on transgender athletes in school sports. The administration has also pursued policies to bar transgender individuals from military service and to require passport sex designations to match biological sex.

"The public interest substantially outweighs any irreparable harm to respondents," the Justice Department wrote, adding that the 2026 policy provides "appropriate, individualized treatment for gender dysphoria, while disallowing only interventions that are medically unnecessary."

Lower courts in Washington, D.C., have temporarily blocked the policy, with a district court and the D.C. Circuit finding the Bureau likely acted arbitrarily and capriciously by not adequately reviewing its prior experience with gender-affirming care. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the emergency request within weeks, adding to a wave of high-profile cases the administration has brought before the court, including a challenge to a migrant-deportation program.