Leavitt fires back after tense Supreme Court clash.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized several Supreme Court justices after a heated hearing about transgender athletes in women’s sports. She said the court’s liberal justices ignored basic biology during the arguments.

Leavitt made the comments during a White House briefing on Thursday. Two days earlier, the Supreme Court heard cases about whether states can ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. The rulings could affect school sports from K-12 through college.

The cases involve laws in Idaho and West Virginia. State lawyers said women’s sports need clear biological rules. Some liberal justices challenged that view with tough questions, which Leavitt said went too far.

“I think, frankly, it was quite alarming,” Leavitt said. “To not only hear a couple of justices grapple over that basic fundamental biological fact that men and women are different but inherently equal, but we are certainly different, and women deserve such rights.”

White House Signals Tougher Stance On State Defiance

Karoline Leavitt (Photo by Stephen Lew/Imagn Images) Donald Trump (Photo by David Yeazell/Imagn Images)
Leavitt also warned states that ignore a future Supreme Court ruling. Conservative activist and former college swimmer Riley Gaines asked whether the Trump administration would act against noncompliant states.

“Absolutely,” Leavitt said. She said the administration already challenged states and universities that defied President Donald Trump’s executive orders. “We’ve gone to the mat with large universities to fight for what’s right for women,” she added.

The Supreme Court heard two cases on Tuesday, Little vs. Hecox and West Virginia vs. B.P.J. Both cases involve laws in Idaho and West Virginia that limit transgender athletes from competing on girls’ teams. Lower courts blocked those laws after challenges from transgender athletes. The Supreme Court stepped in to review those decisions.

The arguments lasted more than three hours. Conservative justices appeared more open to the state laws. Justice Samuel Alito pointed to concerns raised by female athletes who oppose transgender participation in women’s sports. “Are they bigots?” he asked. “Or do they face unfair competition?”

The Supreme Court’s liberal justices pushed for a narrow outcome. They focused on allowing the individual athletes in the cases to compete. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned whether the laws violate Title IX and equal protection.

Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The administration now pressures states to follow it. The Justice Department has sued California’s education agency and warned Minnesota and Maine.

The Supreme Court plans to rule by early summer. The decision could affect more than 30 states with current restrictions.