Judges: Pentagon Ban on Transgender Troops Is Illegal

A Trump administration policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday. The majority opinion by a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit largely upholds a March 2025 ruling by US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC, the AP reports. Reyes concluded that President Trump's executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. The Monday ruling won't immediately go into effect, allowing the administration time to ask the full appeals court to hear the case.

• In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that claimed the sexual identity of transgender service members "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life" and is harmful to military readiness. In response to the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service.
• The policy "appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender," Judge Robert Wilkins wrote for the majority on Monday. Wilkins was nominated to the court by Barack Obama. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker, who was nominated by Trump, said judges lack the power to second-guess the decision to exclude transgender troops. Judge Judith Rogers, who was nominated by Bill Clinton, joined Wilkins' opinion but also partially dissented.

• The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military. The appeal court's majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military but not those seeking to join.
• The US Supreme Court allowed the transgender military ban to go into effect last year, as litigation continues to play out. Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington state and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the policy in that case.
• "This is a huge relief for these service members and their families," Shannon Minter, an attorney for lead plaintiff Lt. Nicholas Talbott, said of Monday's ruling, per Scripps News. "We expect the government to seek a stay of this ruling; however, we will do everything we can to explain to the Supreme Court why it should allow this decision to stand while the case proceeds."