A Trump administration policy banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military is illegal, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
The majority opinion from the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit largely upheld a prior decision from last year by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, which ruled that the policy likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender individuals.
The policy was motivated “by the bare desire to harm” transgender people, according to Judge Robert Wilkins, a former President Barack Obama appointee, who wrote for the majority.
Judge Justin Walker, who wrote the court’s dissenting opinion, argued that the power to decide who can and cannot serve in the military rests with Congress and the president.
“We have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks,” Judge Walter, a Trump appointee, wrote. The ban originated from a January 2025 executive order signed by President Trump, which argued that the gender identity of transgender people stood at odds with the duties of American servicemembers and that allowing them to serve would harm military preparedness.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has facilitated the order’s implementation at the Pentagon, pausing medical care and promotions for individuals suffering from gender dysphoria.
Mr. Hegseth has made it clear he does not want transgender people in the military, telling a special operations forces conference last year that there would be “no more pronouns. No more dudes in dresses,” at the Pentagon.
The condition, defined as clinically significant stress brought on by a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and their sex assigned at birth, has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.
The Pentagon also began involuntary removals of troops who had not already agreed to leave active service in April 2025.
The Supreme Court allowed the ban to take effect last year while litigation proceeded in the lower courts.
This week’s ruling against the policy won’t go into effect immediately, giving the White House time to pursue further appeals.
