Trump admin asks Supreme Court to uphold ban on transgender Americans serving in military

WASHINGTON, DC: The administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the Pentagon to enforce President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, raising the issue before the high court for a second time.  

The administration is appealing a June ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that blocked the enforcement, after a group of active transgender service members challenged the policy. The petition asks the justices to reverse that decision and determine whether the ban can be enforced while the broader legal challenge proceeds.

Administration challenges lower-court ruling blocking ban

Solicitor General D John Sauer argued in the administration’s filing that the appeals court’s decision was a “gravely erroneous holding” and that the military’s authority to determine who can serve is a “matter of exceptional importance.”

“Whether the Constitution prohibits the military from exercising that authority by adopting a policy like the one here is a recurring issue, which has arisen before and will likely arise again absent this Court’s review,” Sauer wrote.

Trump had issued an executive order in January last year, directing the military to exclude transgender service members. The order banned all transgender troops from the US military, arguing they threaten readiness and undermine unit cohesion and conflicts with the military’s standards for an “honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently issued a memo directing the Pentagon to remove transgender service members within 60 days unless they received a waiver demonstrating that their continued service supported “warfighting capabilities.”

However, in June, a divided DC Circuit panel ruled that the policy likely violated the constitutional right to equal protection. Judge Robert Wilkins wrote that the policy “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender.”

The 2-1 ruling prevented the Pentagon from enforcing the ban against the active-duty service members who brought forward the case. However, it did not block enforcement against people seeking to enlist. Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, dissented, writing that “we are judges not generals.”

Challengers urge justices to reject administration appeal

Lawyers representing the service members on Friday, August 28, also asked the Supreme Court to reject the administration’s request, arguing that the case is already scheduled for trial in January next year.  

“The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to rush in and bless the expulsion of proven, decorated soldiers before a single court has issued a final judgment,” Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights said. “There is no circuit split, only a policy that multiple courts have now found was driven by prejudice rather than military need.”

The Supreme Court has previously allowed the administration to temporarily enforce the policy while litigation continues. In May 2025, the justices lifted a nationwide injunction in a separate case challenging the ban, allowing the administration to move forward while that lawsuit proceeded. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

That case was brought in February on behalf of seven openly transgender service members, another transgender person seeking to enlist and an advocacy group. It remains pending before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.