The U.S. Supreme Court concluded its nine-month term on Tuesday with a series of closely watched decisions that reshaped debates over immigration, transgender rights, political spending and gun laws. While President Donald Trump secured victories on several contentious issues, the court dealt a significant blow to one of his signature immigration policies by striking down his attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
Birthright Citizenship Order Invalidated
In a 6-3 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court held that Trump’s executive order seeking to narrow birthright citizenship violated the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The executive order, signed on Trump’s first day after returning to the White House, directed federal agencies to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States unless at least one parent was either a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on American soil, subject only to a handful of longstanding exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats or occupying enemy forces.
Writing for the majority, Roberts emphasized that citizenship has long represented the foundation of equal participation in American society and that the constitutional promise made after the Civil War remains unchanged.
The decision effectively blocks one of Trump’s most ambitious immigration initiatives, which legal experts had warned could have affected hundreds of thousands of births annually and imposed new documentation requirements on countless families.
Following the judgment, Trump criticized the ruling on his Truth Social platform and urged Congress to pursue legislation aimed at ending birthright citizenship.
Civil rights organizations welcomed the verdict, arguing that constitutional guarantees cannot be altered through executive action.
States Allowed to Restrict Transgender Athletes
The Supreme Court also unanimously upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia that restrict participation in women’s and girls’ school sports based on biological sex.
The justices ruled that the state laws do not violate Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. By a 6-3 majority, the court further concluded that the measures are consistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the court, said states are constitutionally permitted to preserve female athletic competitions by defining eligibility according to biological sex.
The ruling clears the way for similar laws already enacted in more than two dozen states and marks another setback for transgender rights before the nation’s highest court. Last year, the court also upheld state restrictions on gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender minors.
Trump hailed the decision as a major victory, saying it ended what he described as an unfair situation in women’s sports.
Campaign Spending Limits Struck Down
In another 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court invalidated federal limits on coordinated campaign spending between political parties and candidates.
The conservative majority found that the restrictions violated First Amendment protections for political speech, siding with Republican challengers that included Vice President JD Vance.
The ruling further expands the court’s long-standing trend of dismantling campaign finance restrictions, continuing a series of decisions over the past decade and a half that have broadened constitutional protections for political spending.
A Term Defined by Major Constitutional Battles
The court’s latest rulings capped a term marked by significant constitutional disputes across multiple areas of public policy.
Earlier this year, the justices rejected Trump’s broad tariff program introduced under emergency powers. At the same time, they expanded presidential authority by allowing Trump to dismiss a member of the Federal Trade Commission, while refusing to immediately permit the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
The court also narrowed protections under the Voting Rights Act, upheld the administration’s move to revoke humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants, and ruled in Trump’s favor in litigation involving asylum policy.
On social issues, the justices struck down Colorado’s prohibition on conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors. They also issued several decisions strengthening gun rights, including invalidating a Hawaii law governing firearms on private property and limiting the reach of a federal law restricting gun ownership by certain drug users.
Assault Rifle Ban Challenges Next on the Docket
Looking ahead, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a fresh set of high-profile cases during its next term beginning in October.
Among the most closely watched will be constitutional challenges to state bans on assault-style rifles, setting the stage for another major Second Amendment battle in the months ahead.
