News
White House: Court remand of Gavin Grimm case a ‘routine practice’
Justices sent trans student case to Fourth Circuit
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A White House spokesperson Monday called the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to scrap consideration of a case that would have nationwide implications for transgender rights a “routine practice.”
Kelly Love, a White House spokesperson, made the remarks in an email response to a Washington Blade inquiry on whether President Trump supports the Supreme Court’s decision to nix consideration of the case filed by Gavin Grimm, a transgender student seeking to use the boys’ restroom consistent with his gender identity, and remand it to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The Supreme Court’s remand today is a routine practice in dealing with cases in which circumstances have changed while a case is pending,” Love said.
Love referred to the remand as a “routine practice” after the Blade expressed dissatisfaction with an earlier response in which she stated the facts of the Supreme Court’s action without characterizing the administration’s view.
“The Supreme Court was due to hear a case this month in which a school district was sued by a transgender student for access to bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to the student’s gender identity,” Love said. “Now that the Departments of Justice and Education have withdrawn their guidance on that issue, the Supreme Court has sent the case back to the lower court to interpret the law without the overlay of the guidance.”
The Supreme Court initially agreed to hear the case last year, but reversed course Monday and remanded the case as a result of the Trump administration revoking Obama administration guidance assuring transgender students access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity.
That guidance formed the basis of the Fourth Circuit decision in favor of Grimm and one of two questions the Supreme Court agreed to consider after his high school in Gloucester County, Va., petitioned justices to review the ruling.
Joshua Block, who represents Grimm as a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a conference call earlier in the day even though the administration has withdrawn the guidance, the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 still protects transgender students regardless of what the White House says.
“Trump can’t roll back what the statutes say; he can roll back whether or not he’s actually going to be enforcing the way he should be,” Block said, “I think that the previous administration was making sure through guidance and regulations to be enforcing those statutes consistently with how lower courts interpreted them to provide equal education to everyone regardless of sex, including trans students. I think that unfortunately, in this administration, it looks like we’re on our own and we’ll have to be protecting ourselves in court.”
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
Pam Bondi ousted as attorney general
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