The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to lift a federal judge's block on its policy restricting transgender inmates' access to hormone treatments and gender-affirming surgeries.
Under the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy, inmates currently receiving hormone treatments would be placed on a tapering plan. Officials would also be required to stop providing social accommodations, such as hair-removal devices, meant to help inmates transition.
A lower court judge found the policy likely illegal and blocked it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a 2-1 vote, declined to lift that block.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in court filings that the ruling harms both the government and the American people.
"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," Sauer wrote.
The request now goes to Chief Justice John Roberts, who by default handles emergency matters arising from the nation's capital. Roberts could act on his own or refer the request to the full court for a vote.
The filing marks the 41st time the administration has turned to the Supreme Court's emergency docket to restore a piece of the president's agenda blocked by a federal judge, according to The Hill's analysis of the court's docket.
The high court has regularly sided with Trump in emergency cases, though not every time. The president expressed deep frustration with some of his own appointees after the court recently refused to allow his mail-in ballot plan to take effect for November's elections.
Cases involving transgender rights have increasingly landed before the justices in recent years. The conservative-majority court recently issued major decisions allowing states to bar transgender girls from competing on girls' sports teams in schools and to restrict transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care.
Sauer cited those rulings in Monday's filing.
"Indeed, this Court has emphasized the importance of allowing politically accountable officials to make decisions about the permissible forms of treatment for gender dysphoria," Sauer wrote in the government's application.
The underlying lawsuit began last year, when transgender inmates filed a class-action challenge after officials ended their access to gender-affirming care in prison. The current fight centers on a February 2026 BOP statement that formalized the policy.
That directive followed an order Trump issued on his first day back in office barring federal funds from being spent on medical procedures "for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex." The order was part of the administration's broader push against what it calls "gender ideology."
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, has repeatedly ruled against the administration in the case.
In its Sept. 18 decision, the D.C. Circuit agreed with Lamberth that the BOP's position is likely illegal because the agency did not adequately consider its experience under the prior policy.
The administration pushed back hard, calling the two-page ruling "a perfunctory determination." It argues the BOP policy is lawful and that the case ignores procedural limits federal law places on civil lawsuits brought by inmates.
"Tellingly, while the court of appeals asserted otherwise, it provided no explanation to support that assertion," Sauer wrote.
