Trump’s ban on trans troops halted after appeals court refuses to delay pause

A U.S. appeals court rejected a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to pause a lower court’s decision blocking enforcement of a ban on trans-identified military service members, which the government argues would ensure “military readiness.”

The three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request on Monday, Reuters reports. A pause would have allowed the Pentagon to enforce the ban while a lower court considers the case. 

By denying the administration’s request, the appellate court left in place the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, late last month. The ruling prevented the administration from removing certain trans-identifying service members.

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“The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness Executive Order, and will continue to do so,” a DOJ spokesperson told The Christian Post in response to the latest update. 

In his 65-page ruling, Settle said that the administration failed to provide evidence that trans-identifying service members over the past four years had negatively impacted the military. 

“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” Settle wrote. “The government’s unrelenting reliance on deference to military judgment is unjustified in the absence of any evidence supporting ‘the military’s’ new judgment reflected in the Military Ban.”

Settle’s ruling echoes a decision last month from U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., claiming that the Trump administration didn’t provide enough evidence to support its policy. 

Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, contended that “leaders have used concern for military readiness to deny marginalized persons the privilege of serving.”

About a week into his second presidential term on Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which states that identifying as the opposite sex “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”

The order also cited Department of Defense Instruction 6130.03, Vol. 1, a longstanding policy that dictates the medical standards for U.S. military service.

According to the volume of instructions, it is DOD policy to ensure that service members are “Free of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization, or may result in separation from the Military Service for medical unfitness.”

As the executive order noted, mental and physical health conditions, including bipolar disorder, suicidality, or other conditions requiring medication or medical treatment, are “incompatible” with active duty. The order asserted that individuals expressing a “false ‘gender identity’ cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

On Feb. 26, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a written policy to implement the executive order. Hegseth stated in the document that the DOD only recognizes two sexes, male and female, adding that the department will not fund service members’ sex-change surgeries or cross-sex hormone therapy. 

“Military service by Service members and applicants for military service who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria is incompatible with military service,” the document stated. “Service by these individuals is not in the best interests of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security.”

Following Trump’s inauguration, an activist group known as The Trans Army has called on its social media followers to stockpile weapons and recruit ex-military personnel. In a Jan. 26 Facebook post, the group declared the U.S. a “totalitarian state” and urged police officers and military personnel to join the Trans Army “mobs.”

“We won’t wait for them to come for us,” the post added. “This time we come for them.”

The activist group addressed trans-identifying military members in a Feb. 28 Facebook post, stating: “To all US trans military members. We need you to contact your local trans organization and offer your support. You need to help train other trans people and help them prepare for what’s coming. Your skills and training will be needed. Thank you for your service.”