The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in the United States, allowed schools to ban transgender women and girls from competing on sports team and expanding political party spending in coordination with campaigns.
In one of the most watched rulings of the term, the justices struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to end birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment, for children born to undocumented immigrants or poeple in the U.S. temporarily.
The court also allowed West Virginia and Idaho to impelemnt laws transgender athletes from competing in women’s school sports are constitutional.
The justices’ rulings Tuesday were the final decisions of the 2025-2026 term.
On Monday, the high court delivered a blitz of decisions, several of which marked setbacks for Republicans. The justices upheld Mississippi’s counting of mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and rejected Trump’s effort to remove Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.
The president bemoaned several of the rulings in posts on Truth Social on Monday. Addressing the decision on mail-in ballots, which he has long labeled fraudulent, he wrote: “In light of the tremendous loss in the Supreme Court today concerning Voter’s Rights…it is more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
Key Points
- Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship
- The court has a history of siding with Trump in other immigration cases
- Supreme Court allows states to ban trans athletes from competing on teams
- Trump celebrates Supreme Court transgender ruling as a 'BIG WIN'
- Supreme Court sides with Republicans, strikes down campaign spending limits
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calls birthright citizenship ‘major defeat’
16:48 , Ariana Baio
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has closely aligned his policies with Trump, said Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship was “a major defeat.”
The Florida governor lamented that the decision was “substantive,” rather than “procedural” – meaning it is a firm decision that would require much more to overrule.
“Will need either a constitutional amendment or a future court to overrule this,” DeSantis said Tuesday.
Jewish Council for Public Affairs welcomes birthright citizenship ruling
16:45 , Ariana Baio
“As a community that found refuge in this country as immigrants, Jews know that the promise of belonging — the principle that if you are born here, you are from here — is a constitutional bedrock that has allowed our community, and so many others, to thrive in safety for generations,” Amy Spitalnick the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs said in a statement.
“As this administration continues to target immigrants and refugees with dehumanizing and draconian policies and bigotry, we will keep fighting to ensure that every human life is treated with dignity and that this country lives up to its highest ideals."
In Photos: Activists celebrate Supreme Court ruling on transgender athletes
16:31 , Ariana Baio
Attorneys for transgender athletes call ruling ‘deeply harmful’
16:26 , Ariana Baio
Lawyers representing transgender athletes, who fought state laws barring their clients from participating on school sports teams, called the Supreme Court’s ruling “deeply harmful” and “heartbreaking.”
“This ruling is deeply harmful for transgender women and girls who only asked for the ability to participate in sports with their peers,” Sasha Buchert, the Senior Attorney and Director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project, for Lambda Legal said.
Burchert said, “Countless studies have demonstrated the myriad benefits that come with participation in team sports. Now, one population, transgender youth and collegians, are targeted for specific and baseless discrimination.”
“This is a heartbreaking ruling for our clients and transgender girls like them who’ve asked for nothing more than the same opportunities afforded to their peers.” said Joshua Block, Senior Counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project.
“It is profoundly unfair to deny a young person the benefits of teamwork and dedication because of who they are,” said Kelly O’Neill, Legal Voice’s Idaho attorney. “We should be removing barriers for girls and women in sports, not creating new ones.”
News outlet retracts report about Supreme Court justice retiring
16:19 , Alex Woodward
NPR has retracted an apparently erroneous report that a sitting Supreme Court justice has retired, shortly after the final decision of this year’s term.
A public information officer for the court has stressed that no such announcements have been made. An editor’s note on the story now states that the outlet “erroneously published” the report.
Trump celebrates ruling expanding political campaign spending ruling
16:07 , Ariana Baio
President Donald Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down campaign spending limits for political parties in coordination with individual campaigns.
“The Supreme Court just took restrictions off political spending! A BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS and, more importantly, The First Amendment!” Trump wrote.
Immigration advocacy group applauds birthright citizenship ruling
15:55 , Ariana Baio
“This is an historic victory for immigrant families, constitutional rights, and the principle that every child born in this country belongs in this country,” We Are CASA, a Latino immigrant advocacy group said Tuesdsay.
“The Trump administration’s attempt to deny citizenship to United States-born children, threaten generations of children with legal uncertainty, and overturn more than a century of settled constitutional law has failed.”
“The Supreme Court has reaffirmed what generations of children and families have known to be true: citizenship is a constitutional guarantee. No President has the authority to unilaterally rewrite the Constitution or decide which babies count as citizens and which do not.”
Trump celebrates Supreme Court transgender ruling: 'BIG WIN'
15:52 , Ariana Baio
On Truth Social, President Donald Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding state laws barring transgender athletes from participating in sports.
“BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!” Trump wrote.
Chief Justice says Trump's executive order did not align with 14th Amendment
15:47 , Alex Woodward
In the court’s opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote there is “scant evidence” for the Trump administration’s “dramatically revisionist view” of the 14th Amendment and limits on citizenship at birth.
“In any case, postenactment history cannot override the text,” Roberts wrote.
“If Congress intended to limit American citizenship to the children of those domiciled in the United States, nothing in the succinct language of the Citizenship Clause conveyed that design.”
The words used throughout Trump’s order — “mother,” “father,” “lawful,” “temporary” — are absent from the 14th Amendment, Roberts notes.
“For a simple reason: they did not matter,” he wrote
Trevor Project condemns transgender athlete ban
15:45 , Ariana Baio
The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ+ community, condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to allow schools to ban transgender athletes from participation.
“The continued attacks on transgender young people in this country must stop. Today’s news has nothing to do with safety or fairness in sports; these rulings only serve to send a message to transgender and nonbinary young people that says, ‘you don’t belong,’” Jaymes Black, the Trevor Project CEO said in a statement.
“Thoughtful discussion about rules and regulations is one thing, but banning an entire demographic of young people from all participation whatsoever is unacceptable. These blanket bans lack balance, impacting all transgender youth regardless of age, sport, or level of competition. It is beyond frustrating to see so much time, effort, and energy poured into policies that do not make environments safer for young people, but rather, have been proven to cause serious harm.”
Black encouraged anyone who needs support to reach out to The Trevor Project’s counselors here.
Trump loses on birthright citizenship after Supreme Court strikes down sweeping attempt to rewrite Constitution
15:40 , Alex Woodward
The Supreme Court has struck down Donald Trump’s attempt to block automatic birthright citizenship to newborns in the U.S., dealing a massive blow to the president’s anti-immigration efforts and his spurious attempt to rewrite the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
Read more:
Trump loses on birthright citizenship after Supreme Court strikes down order
States can ban transgender athletes from women’s teams, Supreme Court rules
15:40 , Brendan Rascius
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states may bar transgender student-athletes from competing in female sports, issuing the long-awaited decision on the final day of its term.
Read more:
Supreme Court upholds state laws restricting transgender student athletes
Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship
15:36 , Ariana Baio
The Supreme Court has upheld the right of birthright citizenship in the United States, striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to remove the right for children born to undocumented immigrants or people in the US temporarily.
Justice Kagan says ruling is 'for' those who think there is too much campaign finance law
15:34 , Ariana Baio
“Today’s decision thus can join the parade of those recently overruling established law because of a new majority’s new outlook on a consequential matter,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissenting opinion.
“Here, the subject is campaign finance law. For those who think there is too much of it in this country—for those who would prefer even more money to be pumped even more easily into politics despite the danger of corruption—thisoverruling is for you.”
Supreme Court sides with Republicans, strikes down campaign spending limits
15:29 , Ariana Baio
In a win for Republicans, the Supreme Court has struck down a federal law that limited how much political parties could spend in coordination with individual campaigns.
With just months until the midterm elections, the Supreme Court has once again expanded the opportunity for political parties to spend large amounts in coordination with candidates
The court ruled that the law limiting spending in coordination with campaigns violated the First Amendment
Justice Clarence Thomas rejects rights for trans people
15:20 , Ariana Baio
In a concurring opinion, in which no other justice joined, Justice Clarence Thomas rejected the idea that transgender people are deserving of “immutable characteristics.”
“Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are,” Thomas wrote.
“Sex is an immutable ‘biological’ characteristic, it is binary;and ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ ‘boy’ and ‘girl,’ are the terms thatcorrespond to adults and children of each sex. To use language to obscure reality—to show ‘indifference regarding the truth’ –is to lie to the public and cease to treat our fellow citizens ‘as equals.’”
Justice Sotomayor reads from her dissent
15:15 , Ariana Baio
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor is reading from her dissent in West Virginia v. BPJ , the case that allows schools to prohibit trans women and girls from competing on sports team that align with their gender.
“The ban is absolute, so B. P. J. cannot practice on girls’ teams, even if she would not take anyone’s spot in an eventual competition, even if everyone who tries out for the team makes it, and even if having the chance to participate could aid immensely in treating B. P. J.’s gender dysphoria,” Sotomayor wrote.
“Sports, of course, are often zero sum, but the law need not and should not be. Because the Court today errs by reducing the burden, at least in the sports context, that the Constitutionplaces on state actors when classifying based on sex, I respectfully dissent.”
Kavanaugh says eligibility is based on 'biological sex'
15:09 , Ariana Baio
In the majority opinion, authored by Kavanaugh, the conservative justices said states may determine who is eligible to compete on women’ and girls’ sports teams.
“In other words, may schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex? The answer is yes,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined him in the majority.
Supreme Court upholds state law barring trans athletes from competing
15:05 , Ariana Baio
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld state laws that ban transgender women and girls from competing on women's and girls’ sports teams.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the state laws, from Idaho and West Virginia, were consistent with Title IX’s definition of women and girls.
Title IX is the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs.
Opinions to be released shortly
15:00 , Ariana Baio
It’s 10:00 a.m., which means the court will begin releasing the final decisions of the term.
Ruling expected on GOP-backed challenge to limits on campaign spending
14:42 , Brendan Rascius
On Tuesday, the high court is also expected to issue a ruling in a less high-profile case: a GOP-backed challenge to federal limits on campaign spending.
Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans challenged the limits on spending between candidates and political parties, which were upheld by a lower court.
The key question is whether current limits on party spending violate the First Amendment.
The ruling will likely have implications for this November’s midterm elections.
Reporters and spectators gather outside the Supreme Court
14:33 , Brendan Rascius
Ahead of the justices’ long-awaited rulings, news reporters and spectators were seen gathering outside the court on Tuesday morning. The rulings are expected to be handed down at 10 a.m.
The court has a history of siding with Trump in other immigration cases
14:28 , Reuters
The court's conservative majority has backed Trump on other major immigration-related policies since he returned to the presidency.
For instance, the court on June 25 cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants of a humanitarian status that protects them from deportation. On the same day, it sided with him by backing the U.S. government's authority to turn away asylum seekers when officials deem U.S.-Mexico border crossings too overburdened to handle additional claims.
In other cases, it let Trump expand mass deportation measures on an interim basis while legal challenges play out, such as ending humanitarian protections for certain migrants, deporting people to countries where they have no ties and carrying out aggressive immigration raids that can target individuals based on their race or language.
The court, however, has not always ruled in Trump's favor. In February, it struck down sweeping tariffs he pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies. And on Monday it refused to let him fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
What to know about the long-awaited birthright citizenship ruling
14:26 , Reuters
Here’s what to know about the court’s expected ruling on birthright citizenship:
A lower court previously blocked Trump's executive order directing U.S. agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, also called a "green card" holder.
Challengers to Trump's order argued that it violates language in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that confers citizenship to those born in the United States who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
Trump issued the order last year on his first day back in office as part of a suite of policies to crack down on legal and illegal immigration. Critics have accused the Republican president of racial and religious discrimination in his approach to immigration.
Ahead of the ruling, some experts had estimated that Trump's directive could affect the legal status of as many as 250,000 babies born each year.
The Supreme Court is set to deliver series of long-awaited rulings today
14:22 , Brendan Rascius
The Supreme Court is poised to issue a series of high-profile decisions Tuesday, the last day of its term.
At 10 a.m., the justices are expected to deliver a long-awaited decision on the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order last year seeking to end birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment.
The court will also rule on whether bans in West Virginia and Idaho preventing transgender athletes from competing in women’s school sports are constitutional.
