The Supreme Court closes out its term today with a trio of high-stakes decisions, headlined by a ruling on President Donald Trump’s top priority to redefine birthright citizenship. The justices will also decide on the legality of transgender athlete bans in Idaho and West Virginia, alongside a crucial campaign finance case that could eliminate one of the last remaining checks on political funding.
The birthright citizenship case stems from an executive order Trump signed on the first day of his second term. The policy aims to restrict automatic citizenship exclusively to children born to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, ending the practice for tourists and undocumented immigrants.
This order challenges more than 125 years of legal precedent, during which the Supreme Court has interpreted the 14th Amendment as granting citizenship to all babies born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ legal status.
Data from the Migration Policy Institute indicates the stakes are high, estimating that roughly 255,000 children—about 6% of all projected U.S. births—would start life without citizenship each year under the new policy.
The legal battle, known as Trump v. Barbara, was initiated by expectant parents, immigrant rights organizations, and 22 state attorneys general. Among those suing is a Honduran asylum seeker living in New Hampshire, and a Taiwanese mother who entered the country on a student visa.
During oral arguments in April, ACLU national legal director Cecillia Wang, who argued against the restriction and is herself a citizen via the 14th Amendment, stated, “Ask any American what our citizenship rule is and they’ll tell you, everyone born here is a citizen alike.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on June 29, Trump indicated he would abide by the court’s ruling but defended his policy, saying, “It’s tremendously destructive, it’s extremely costly. It’s up to them. But in terms for the good of the country, it would be great they didn’t allow it.”
Simultaneously, the court will rule on whether West Virginia and Idaho can legally bar transgender athletes from participating on female sports teams. Trump has consistently opposed transgender athletes in female divisions, moving to cut federal funding for schools that permit it, while organizations like the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have already altered their rules to align with restrictions. Currently, 27 states have enacted similar bans.
While Idaho’s law bans transgender females from primary school through college across all competitive levels, West Virginia’s restrictions cover middle school through college. Advocates for transgender athletes argue the issue has been amplified beyond its actual scope.
In 2024, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified to a Senate panel that he was aware of fewer than 10 transgender athletes competing across all collegiate sports. Estimates from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law suggest up to 122,000 transgender youth might play high school sports, though they likely comprise less than 1.5% of student-athletes at the college level.
The final case on Tuesday’s docket evaluates a Republican challenge to campaign finance rules, specifically targeting the limits on how much political parties can spend on campaigns that are directly coordinated with candidates.
These highly anticipated decisions follow a mixed slate of rulings issued by the high court on Monday. In those cases, the justices gave the president more authority to fire the heads of independent agencies but allowed a Federal Reserve governor to remain in office while fighting her termination.
The court also ruled that states are permitted to count mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day, even if they arrive several days later. Following today’s final opinions, the justices will hold one last private conference to review pending appeals before adjourning for the summer recess.
READ: Georgia Sen. Ossoff Warns Of ‘Out-Of-Control Executive’ As Supreme Court Hands Trump New Powers
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