One sentence, no reasons
On Oct. 21, the Court denied the Trump administration's application for a stay in Trump v. Kingdom (No. 26A416). The order is one sentence long and gives no explanation. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted the stay. The docket doesn't record how the other seven voted.
What the prisons wanted to do
President Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, executive order directed the attorney general to "ensure that no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex," as quoted by SCOTUSblog.
In February 2026, the Bureau of Prisons adopted Program Statement 5260.01. Under it, the BOP would treat gender dysphoria with mental-health care. It would stop providing surgeries, hormones and what it calls "social accommodations": items like "buttock padding," "breast padding," chest "binders," "makeup" and "wigs," according to the government's application. It said it would "remove or confiscate" those items "when practicable."
The BOP gave its reasons: the scientific evidence has changed, and security. It warned that these interventions could make inmates "target[s] for attacks," "raise fairness concerns" and "breed resentment among other inmates." It also said padding and similar items could be used to "hide contraband," and that inmates had "threatened self-harm and suicide" to obtain hormones and accommodations.
NBC News puts the number of affected federal inmates at about 1,000.
The judge
Three inmates sued: Alishea Kingdom, Jas Kapule and Solo Nichols. Each has been receiving hormones for years.
On Aug. 26, Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth blocked the policy for the whole class and ordered the BOP to keep supplying hormones and accommodations. He found the policy "pretextual and reverse engineered to implement" the executive order, the government's filing says. He also wrote that the BOP cited "zero evidence from its own medical or mental health professionals."
On Sept. 18, the D.C. Circuit refused to pause his order 2-1. Judges Wilkins and Garcia were in the majority, and Judge Walker dissented, according to the order.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices the judge was "substituting its own policy judgment for that of the agency" and faulting the BOP for following the president's directions.
What it means
The lawsuit isn't over. But until the courts rule, taxpayers keep funding cross-sex hormones and padding in federal prisons.
The Supreme Court has upheld state laws on women's sports and on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. On prisons, a majority wasn't willing to step in. And it didn't say why.
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