The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a controversial lower court order that would force the federal government to issue passports based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex.
The move stems from a ruling by Judge Julia E. Kobick, a Biden appointee, who in June directed the government to allow individuals to self-select their sex designation on official passports — including the use of nonbinary “X” markers — regardless of their biological classification.
In its emergency application, the administration argued that the ruling oversteps judicial authority and violates constitutional principles.
“The Constitution does not prohibit the government from defining sex in terms of an individual’s biological classification,” the application states, adding, “U.S. passports are official government documents, addressed to foreign nations.”
The legal filing also emphasized that passport content falls squarely under executive authority, rooted in both the Constitution and statute.
“The Executive Order in this case is an exercise of power conferred on the President… to determine the contents of U.S. passports.”
BREAKING: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court order forcing the government to issue passports based on “gender identity.”
“The Constitution does not prohibit the government from defining sex in terms of an individual’s biological… pic.twitter.com/hbZi5JXD0a
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) September 19, 2025
Clash Over ‘Animus’ and Executive Power
Earlier this month, the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block Kobick’s order, claiming that the Trump administration failed to meaningfully engage with the lower court’s assertion that the policy reflected “unconstitutional animus toward transgender Americans.”
The Trump administration sharply disagreed, noting that its position is grounded not in animus, but in biological reality.
“It was entirely rational for the President to reject ‘gender identity’ as a ‘basis for identification’ in favor of a ‘biological’ definition of sex — one grounded in facts that are immutable,” the administration’s filing states.
Trump’s Day One Order
The court challenge comes months after President Trump reinstated traditional sex-based definitions of gender in federal policy, overturning Biden-era rules on day one of his second term.
One of Trump’s first executive orders declared that federal documents, including passports, must “accurately reflect the holder’s sex.” This policy reversed the Biden administration’s decision to allow Americans to self-select their gender, including an “X” designation for those identifying as nonbinary.
During Biden’s term, the State Department had celebrated the change as a major win for the LGBTQ+ community. But critics said it blurred legal and scientific lines between sex and gender and undermined the integrity of official identification.
What’s Next
The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will take up the Trump administration’s request, but the issue could quickly become a flashpoint in the national debate over gender identity, executive authority, and constitutional interpretation.
Should the justices side with the administration, it would deliver a major legal win for President Trump’s broader rollback of gender ideology across the federal government — a pillar of his “Make America Healthy Again” and “America First” platforms.
The post Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court to Block Passport Gender Identity Mandate appeared first on Real News Now.
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