“We Don’t Answer To Courts”: Trump Admin Refuses Compliance With Trans Passport Court Order

A government source indicates that they believe the administration is intentionally delaying compliance with a ruling allowing trans people to change their passports.

Photo by Nicole Geri on Unsplash

Two weeks after a federal ruling affirmed that transgender people can update the gender markers on their passports—a policy that had been in place for years before the Trump administration began reversing those updates—the federal government appears to be defying the court order. Now, a source within the government familiar with the process tells Erin In The Morning they believe the non-compliance is intentional. According to the source, the administration could resume processing gender marker updates immediately, but instead appears to be deliberately stalling implementation in a refusal to comply with the court order.

On June 17, a federal judge overseeing the challenge to former President Trump’s passport restrictions for transgender people granted class certification, expanding a previous ruling that deemed the policy likely unconstitutional. The judge had earlier found that the ban “conveys a fundamental moral disapproval of transgender Americans” and constitutes a clear expression of animus, likely violating the Equal Protection Clause. With the new order in effect immediately, the ruling now applies to all transgender individuals seeking to apply for or renew a passport with an accurate gender marker.

However, two weeks after the ruling, transgender individuals are still unable to update their passports. Requests for gender marker changes are reportedly being held indefinitely, effectively barring travel unless applicants accept documents that reflect an incorrect gender—directly contradicting the court’s order. A government official close to the process tells Erin in the Morning the delay appears to be intentional and in violation of the ruling.

In a June 25th filing with the federal court, the ACLU states, “Defendants have not complied and are refusing to provide meaningful information to Plaintiffs about when they will be in compliance or what steps they have purportedly taken to comply... Defendants have not meaningfully responded to those questions despite class counsel’s repeated attempts to obtain this basic information… Defendants are plainly in violation of the Preliminary Injunction.”

The filing details multiple instances in which passport offices have refused to process gender marker updates for transgender applicants despite the court ruling. At one office in Vermont, officials told a transgender applicant there was “nothing they could do” until further guidance was issued. In Seattle, agents were reportedly instructed to “neither approve nor deny” such requests, effectively placing them on indefinite hold. A passport office in New Hampshire allegedly told an applicant, “We are not intending to comply with the injunction. We have been told to only follow the President’s Executive Order, unless the Supreme Court directs otherwise.” In San Francisco, a supervisor reportedly responded to a question about following the court order by saying, “We don’t answer to courts.” When the applicant asked, “You’re telling me you don’t have to follow the law?” the supervisor replied, “We don’t.”

The intentional noncompliance with a court order on identity documents is not unprecedented when it comes to transgender rights in the United States. In 2022, Montana’s governor openly defied a court order requiring the state to allow gender marker updates on birth certificates, sparking a legal battle that dragged on for years. But the scope of the federal passport ruling is far broader—noncompliance at the national level now affects tens of thousands of transgender people who need accurate passports to travel.

The ACLU’s motion to compel compliance with the court order remains pending. In the meantime, transgender individuals seeking to update the gender marker on their passports are advised to consult the ACLU’s guidance. The organization has released a detailed FAQ to help navigate the process, available here.