A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce its prohibition on transgender-identified individuals from serving in the military.
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled a lower court had afforded “insufficient deference” to the secretary of war to enforce strict medical standards on service members.
The decision stays Biden-nominated Judge Ana C. Reyes’s March 18 preliminary injunction that had placed the Pentagon’s policy on ice after several transgender-identifying service members filed a lawsuit to prevent the policy’s enforcement.
Judge Reyes is the “first openly LGBT” person to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and “is a longtime Democrat Party donor,” The Federalist reports.
Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee, authored the Court of Appeals’ decision and explained the Hegseth Policy “is likely constitutional because it reflects a considered judgement of military leaders and furthers legitimate military interests.”
“The government identifies several legitimate military interests that the Hegseth Policy advances,” Judge Katsas continued. “Chief among them is military readiness. … Secretary Hegseth had before him evidence that treatments for gender dysphoria would limit deployability and may not be effective. … His predecessors unanimously agreed that these concerns are serious ones.”
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a separate preliminary injunction in a related case that had prohibited the Pentagon from disqualifying transgender-identified individuals from military service. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson had dissented from the Court’s decision.
Judge Katsas cited the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling as a further reason for staying Judge Reyes’ preliminary injunction.
“The Supreme Court has already held that the government is likely to succeed on its contention that the Hegseth Policy does not violate equal protection,” Judge Katsas wrote.
Judge Neomi Rao, also a nominee of President Trump, joined the Court of Appeals’ majority opinion. Judge Cornelia Pillard, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, dissented.
Just one week after taking office for the second time, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order, Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness, that made it the policy of the U.S. government to “establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.”
The order properly explained,
The Pentagon then issued a directive on February 26 disqualifying individuals with a current diagnosis, or exhibiting symptoms, of gender dysphoria from military service. The directive also stipulates:
All service members will only serve in accordance with their sex.
Pronoun usage within the military must reflect service members’ sex.
Sleeping, changing and bathing facilities will be designated based on biological sex.
The Department of Defense will not pay for transgender medical interventions.
The directive reversed two previous presidential policies, implemented by the Obama and Biden administrations, that had relaxed the military’s policy of prohibiting “individuals with gender dysphoria, a medical condition associated with clinically significant distress,” from serving in the military.
Between 2015 and 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense spent over $52 million providing transgender medical interventions to active-duty service members.
Following the Court of Appeals’ ruling, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth posted a meme depicting his foot kicking “Woke Culture” and “DEI Military” out the front door of the Department of War.
“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department. To rip out the politics,” Secretary Hegseth told hundreds of our nation’s top military leaders in a speech in September.
“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.”
Now, two of our nation’s highest courts have upheld one of the administration’s initiatives to restore a “warrior ethos” to the military and end the “woke” at the Department of War.
Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver issued a statement after the Court of Appeals’ ruling, saying, “The D.C. Court of Appeals ruling affirms that the Equal Protection Clause does not require the armed forces to disregard its legitimate medical standards that are essential for mission success.”
“The ‘Hegseth Policy’ is grounded in objective medical criteria and the natural differences between the sexes to ensure that every servicemember is fully prepared — physically and mentally — to meet the challenges of defending our nation.”
The Daily Citizen will keep you updated of any important developments in this case.
The case isTalbott v. United States.
Related articles and resources:
Hegseth: No More ‘Woke’ At Department of War
Supreme Court Lets Trump’s ‘Transgender Military Ban’ Take Effect
SecDef Hegseth: Military Reinstating 8,700 Wrongly Discharged Servicemembers
Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Ban on ‘Transgender’ Service Members
Pentagon Ends Paid Travel Expenses and Time Off for Abortions
Photo from Getty Images.
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