Supreme Court blocks Trump bid on inmate gender care

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to let President Donald Trump's administration immediately deny gender-affirming treatment to inmates in federal prisons.

The order was unsigned and did not explain the court's reasoning. It said Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have granted the government's emergency request to stop the treatments.

Trump signed an executive order after returning to the White House in January 2025 saying the federal government would recognise only two sexes, male and female, as assigned at birth. His administration later rolled back several measures that had strengthened transgender rights, including for prison inmates.

The administration ordered prisoners to serve their sentences in prisons matching their gender at birth, but a federal judge blocked that decision last year. This year, the same judge also blocked a policy that would have denied hormone treatment, surgery and other social accommodations to prisoners diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

The government asked the Supreme Court to stay that ruling, but the court refused on Wednesday.