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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the Supreme Court justices for apparently challenging biological differences between men and women during Tuesday’s hearing on saving women’s sports.
The Supreme Court heard two cases involving transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson pressed state prosecutors to keep women’s sports biologically female.
When asked by Riley Gaines during Thursday’s briefing whether the administration was prepared to take action against states that don’t comply with the Supreme Court’s potential ruling to save women’s sports, Leavitt responded, “Absolutely.”
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, January 15, 2026, in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“The administration… [has] has taken action on multiple fronts against those states that fail to comply with Presidential Executive Orders and this administration’s policy of simply protecting women, women’s sports, and women’s private spaces. We have also taken on the great universities of this country to try to fight for what is right and what is right for the women of this country.
“I think the president is talking common sense on this issue, that women’s sports and private spaces need to be protected and that there are two genders, there are two sexes – that’s not something we should be afraid to say in this country.”
A protester holds a sign in front of the Supreme Court during debates over state laws banning transgender girls and women from playing on school sports teams, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS” ACTIVISTS REACT TO SUPREME COURT HEARING OF TRANS ATHLETES
Leavitt then robbed the aforementioned judges for what appeared to be at least one devil’s advocate play during the hearings.
“And I think, frankly, it was quite alarming not only to hear a few justices wrestling with this basic biological fact that men and women are different but inherently equal, but we are certainly different and women deserve such rights,” Leavitt added. “We hope and hope that the Supreme Court will rule on this issue in the right way.”
The consensus among experts is that the Supreme Court justices and their conservative majority appear ready to allow Idaho, West Virginia and other U.S. states to enforce their laws aimed at excluding biological males from girls’ and women’s sports.
Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments on state laws banning transgender girls and women from playing on school sports teams, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP)
President Donald Trump issued an executive order to save women’s sports in February. According to the Supreme Court, 30 states impose restrictions on the participation of transgender athletes against girls and women.
A decision is expected this summer.
