Federal Appeals Court Rules Trump-Era Transgender Military Ban Unconstitutional

A divided panel of federal appeals court judges ruled on Monday that a Trump administration policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service. The majority opinion by a three-judge panel from the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit largely upheld a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C.

Judge Reyes had concluded that President Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military.

The appeals court majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military, but not those seeking to join. The ruling will not immediately go into effect, allowing the administration time to ask the full appeals court to hear the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the transgender military ban to go into effect last year as litigation continues.

Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington state and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order claiming that 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, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. Gender dysphoria is the distress a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity do not match, and it has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Judge Robert Wilkins, writing for the majority, stated that the policy "appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender." Wilkins was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker, nominated by Republican President Trump, argued that judges lack the power to second-guess the decision to exclude transgender troops.

"We have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks. The Constitution assigns that authority to Congress and the Commander in Chief," Walker wrote.

Judge Judith Rogers, nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, joined Wilkins’ opinion but also partially dissented.