Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Revive Ban on Care for Transgender Inmates

On Sept. 28, 2026, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to lift a judge's block on a Bureau of Prisons policy ending hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery for transgender federal inmates. The request followed a 2-1 D.C. Circuit ruling upholding U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's injunction, which found the policy likely unlawful. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the lower courts' orders caused "irreparable harm" to prison authority; the case goes first to Chief Justice John Roberts.

The dispute extends the administration's push to restrict transgender rights via the Supreme Court's emergency docket, after earlier wins on transgender-troop bans and limits on care for minors.

The Supreme Court has not ruled. Inmates' lawyers say withholding the care is cruel and unusual punishment.