Pentagon can't kick transgender service members out of the military, court rules
Pentagon can't kick transgender service members out of the military, court rules
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAYTue, June 2, 2026 at 12:42 AM UTC
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An appeals court ruled that the Pentagon's move to kick transgender troops out of the military violated their rights, calling the policy "arbitrary and based upon animus."
Two out of three judges on a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed that the sweeping removal of transgender service members from the military's ranks that the Trump administration implemented last year was unconstitutional.
In the majority opinion, Judge Robert Wilkins, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote that the policy "appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender."
Judge Justin Walker, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, dissented, writing in the minority opinion that striking down the Pentagon's policy would amount to an "unprecedented intrusion into the internal operations of the armed forces."
The ruling only applies to the Pentagon's move to expel transgender people serving in the military. It leaves in effect a ban on transgender people enlisting.
The ruling came after a group of transgender service members sued the Trump administration in response to the policy, which Trump implemented soon after he took office for the second time. The Pentagon has since moved to identify and fire thousands of transgender service members in its ranks and barred others from joining.
A federal judge in March 2025 put the policy on hold, calling it "soaked in animus and dripping with pretext," but the Supreme Court ruled two months later that it could go into effect.
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An appeals court ruled that the Pentagon's move to kick out transgender troops violated their rights.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth officially issued the ban on transgender people serving in the military in February of 2025, effectively reviving a ban that Trump instituted in his first term. In the interim, former President Joe Biden had scrapped it days after taking office in 2021.
Hegseth has said that people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria "cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service," according to a memo he issued last year. He has tied the ban on transgender service members to his sweeping push to eradicate what he calls "woke" policies throughout the military.
Jennifer Levi of LGBTQ rights group GLAD Law, who represents the plaintiffs, applauded the decision.
“This decisive ruling confirms that the Trump Administration has no legitimate basis to discharge transgender service members who have met every demanding standard and proven, time and again, their fitness and dedication to serve," Levi said in a statement.
Hegseth wrote in an X post after the ruling: "See you at SCOTUS," using the acronym for the Supreme Court.
The military has about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, according to Department of Defense data. While transgender rights advocates say there are as many as 15,000 transgender service members, officials say the number is in the low thousands.
Contributing: Reuters.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Court blocks Pentagon from kicking out transgender service members
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