Trump Asks Supreme Court To Allow Trans Military Ban

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside a lower court’s block on its proposed ban on transgender military service members.

President Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court to reinstate his ban on transgender military service — just days after Justice Department attorneys faced sharp skepticism from a federal appeals court panel.

: www.advocate.com/news/doj-sco… [image or embed] — The Advocate (@advocate.com) April 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM

From The Advocate:

In an emergency filing, the DOJ asked the court to lift a nationwide injunction issued by Washington state U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Shilling v. United States.

Settle blocked the enforcement of Trump’s January executive order banning transgender people’s service.

He ruled that the policy likely violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee and called it “dramatic and facially unfair,” citing a lack of evidence that transgender troops harm military readiness.

The government claims that allowing transgender people with gender dysphoria to serve would impact military effectiveness and increase health care costs. But lower court judges found that the government spends far more on erectile dysfunction medications annually than it has for gender-affirming care in ten years. Issuing his injunction, Judge Settle also noted that the Trump administration has offered no explanation as to why trans military service members – who have been able to serve openly over the past four years with no evidence of problems – should suddenly be banned. This comes just two days after Justice Department attorneys had a tough time trying to defend a parallel case, Talbott v. United States, to a D.C. Circuit panel. DOJ attorney Jason Manion was at a loss when asked if such automatic discharges exist for other conditions. Noting the policy’s contradictions, Judge Cornelia Pillard asked Manion, “You can serve as a transgender person as long as you don’t serve as a transgender person?” D.C. District Judge Ana Reyes, who issued the Talbott injunction, called the trans ban “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.”

BREAKING: President Trump asks the Supreme Court to allow a ban on transgender members of the military to take effect, while lawsuits proceed.

[image or embed] — The Associated Press (@apnews.com) April 24, 2025 at 8:38 AM