{"id":2599132,"date":"2026-05-05T18:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-spars-with-doj-over-supreme-courts-passport-gender-ruling\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T18:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:08:36","slug":"appeals-court-spars-with-doj-over-supreme-courts-passport-gender-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-spars-with-doj-over-supreme-courts-passport-gender-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals court spars with DOJ over Supreme Court&#8217;s passport gender ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fappeals-court-spars-with-doj-over-supreme-courts-passport-gender-ruling%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2599132&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit questioned whether the Justice department can treat a Supreme Court emergency-docket order from last year as settling the lawsuit challenging the Trump governance\u2019s rule requiring sex on passports to match a person\u2019s biological sex.<\/p>\n<p>DOJ lawyer Michael Velchik argued that the supreme Court\u2019s prior ruling-allowing the policy to stay in effect during litigation-forecloses the case, citing language that described <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-hands-trump-a-win-on-passport-biological-sex-rule\/\" title=\"Supreme ... hands Trump a win on passport ... ...\">listing biological sex<\/a> as a statement of \u201cpast fact\u201d and rejected claims of discrimination. One judge pushed back, noting that emergency-docket decisions typically involve only whether to lift a preliminary injunction, not a definitive ruling on the merits.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides asked the First Circuit to vacate the district court\u2019s preliminary injunction, but they differ on what should happen next. They also urged the appeals court to issue an opinion with its order addressing the merits, which several judges appeared reluctant to do as it might very well be viewed as an unconstitutional advisory opinion.The panel did not signal how it would rule or when it might issue an order.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>A federal <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/appeals-courts\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1537\">appeals court<\/a> questioned the Justice Department\u2019s insistence on Tuesday that a Supreme Court emergency docket ruling from last year settled a lawsuit over the Trump administration\u2019s policy restricting the gender on a person\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/passports\/\">passport<\/a> to his or her biological sex.<\/p>\n<p>A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit heard arguments in the case, in which both sides have asked the panel to toss the preliminary injunction blocking the policy for different reasons. The Supreme Court <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3878384\/supreme-court-hands-trump-a-win-on-passport-biological-sex-rule\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3878384\/supreme-court-hands-trump-a-win-on-passport-biological-sex-rule\/\">allowed<\/a> the policy to remain in effect while litigation continues via an order on its emergency docket last year. DOJ lawyer Michael Velchik pointed to that November 2025 order from the high court as evidence for why the First Circuit should toss the district court\u2019s ruling against the administration.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4555718\/doj-sues-denver-semi-automatic-rifle-ban-mayor-remains-defiant\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DOJ sues Denver over semiautomatic rifle ban as mayor remains defiant<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4555537\/fulton-county-fights-doj-2020-election-workers-personal-data\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Fulton County fights DOJ bid for 2020 election workers\u2019 personal data<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4555078\/attorneys-general-urged-revisit-contracts-shady-8-dem-donating-firms\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Attorneys general urged to revisit contracts with \u2018Shady Eight\u2019 Democrat-donating firms<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s 6-3 ruling on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-historic-year-of-supreme-court-victories\/\" title=\"Trump&#039;s historic ... of Supreme ... victories\">emergency docket included<\/a> an unsigned opinion that stated the policy of listing biological sex on passports was only reflecting a \u201chistorical fact.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>\u201cDisplaying passport holders\u2019 sex at birth no more <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >offends equal protection principles<\/a> than displaying their country of birth\u2014in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment the brief majority ruling from the Supreme Court said. \u201cAnd on this record, respondents have failed to establish that the Government\u2019s choice to display biological sex \u2018lack[s] any purpose other than a bare \u2026 desire to harm a politically unpopular group.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNor are respondents likely to prevail in arguing that the State Department acted arbitrarily and capriciously by declining to depart from Presidential rules that Congress expressly required it to follow,\u201d the Supreme Court order reads.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ argued on Tuesday that the justices had already signaled how the case should end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe read that language as making a legal determination that would foreclose their ability to succeed on that on the merits, the Supreme Court has already decided in this case, which is now the law of the case, but is also a precedent that there is no discrimination,\u201d Velchik said.<\/p>\n<p>One of the judges on the panel questioned Velchik\u2019s assertion, noting that it was a ruling on the emergency docket over whether to lift a preliminary injunction, not a ruling on the underlying dispute. The judge questioned how the Supreme Court\u2019s order can be seen as a firm ruling when they are \u201cmaking an estimate\u201d on who they think is likely to win when deciding cases on the emergency docket. Velchik responded that the statements the Supreme Court made in the accompanying opinion with the order seem to be \u201cunequivocal\u201d statements beyond a preliminary examination of the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides have asked the appeals court panel to vacate the lower court\u2019s preliminary injunction and send the case back to the district court for further proceedings. Both sides have also asked the panel of judges to include an opinion with its order vacating the injunction with their views on the merits of the case, something the panel seemed uncomfortable doing.<\/p>\n<p>Malita Picasso, the lawyer arguing for the group suing the Trump administration over its passport policy, asked the panel to include an opinion asserting that no legal claims that they have made against the administration have been struck down by vacating the injunction.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4554997\/alito-slams-jackson-dissent-supreme-court-louisiana-redistricting-case\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4554997\/alito-slams-jackson-dissent-supreme-court-louisiana-redistricting-case\/\">ALITO SLAMS JACKSON\u2019S \u2018INSULTING\u2019 DISSENT AS SUPREME COURT SPEEDS UP LOUISIANA REDISTRICTING CASE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Multiple judges expressed concern that an opinion accompanying an order vacating the lower court\u2019s injunction would be viewed as giving an advisory opinion on the matter, which they are constitutionally barred from doing.<\/p>\n<p>The appeals court panel did not indicate how they would rule in the case or when they would issue any order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal appeals court challenged DOJ\u2019s claim that last year\u2019s Supreme Court emergency ruling ended a lawsuit over Trump\u2019s passport sex policy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2599133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26118741689889.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32324,7076,51639],"class_list":["post-2599132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-appeals-court","tag-doj","tag-law-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26118741689889.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599132"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599136,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599132\/revisions\/2599136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}