A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely blocked the implementation of President Trump's executive order, which effectively ruled out transgender people from openly serving the military.
US District Judge Anna Reyes, former President Biden appointee, has banned Defense Secretary Pete Hegses and other military officials from implementing Trump's orders or otherwise implementing new policies. She also said the plaintiff's military status must remain unchanged until further orders by the court.
The judge said her order was intended to “maintain the status quo” of military policies regarding transgender services that existed before Trump. She continued the order until Friday, giving the administration time to appeal.
“The courts know that this opinion leads to intense public debate and appeal,” Reyes wrote in her opinion. “In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes.”
Shortly after the January 27th order was signed, six active service members and two individuals attempting to enlist in the military sued the Trump administration, claiming they had violated their constitutional rights. Two similar cases have passed through the courts.
Trump's order Transgender people “cannot meet the strict standards necessary for military service” because it threatens the lethality of the military and undermines unit cohesion.
“It is a man's claim that he is a woman and his requirement for others to respect this falsehood is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,” the executive order states.
Reyes wrote that while the president has both the power and duty to ensure military readiness, military leaders have long used that justification to “deny the privilege of service to marginalized people.”
“”[Fill in the blank] It is completely incompetent and hinders the effectiveness of combat. [fill in the blank] Disrupts unit aggregation and reduces military effectiveness. permission [fill in the blank] Serving undermines training, makes it impossible to successfully adopt it, and disrupts the military order,” Reyes wrote.
“The first minority, then the women in battle, and the gays filled that void,” she continued. “But today our troops are stronger and our country is safer for millions of such voids (and everyone else).”
2016Rand Corp. StudyCommissioned by the Pentagon, it was found that allowing trans individuals to serve the military would not have a negative effect on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or preparation.
During several weeks-long hearings, Reyes tore a Justice Department lawyer over Trump's orders and the policies of Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, who is implementing it, and came into effect on March 26th.
A Pentagon memo dated February 26 said it “has a current diagnosis or history of gender discomfort or shows a matching symptoms.” It added that the Pentagon would require service members to recognize only two genders, male and female, and “serve only according to sex,” in accordance with another Trump executive order.
Reyes pointed out that symptoms of gender discomfort can “mean anything” from “cross-dressing” to mental health conditions like depression.
“I can say that the policy is limited, but in its own terms, can most trans people be included?” the judge asked a Justice Department lawyer at the March 13 hearing.
DOJ's lawyer Jason Mannion argued that judges must accused the “present” military, not the leader of past administrations.
“You're postponing it to the military,” he said. “You don't reevaluate the evidence they're doing.”
Nevertheless, the judge questioned how the Department of Defense used a “chosen cherry” study to support the new policy, but she said she misrepresented it “completely, terrible.”
In ruling Tuesday, Reyes pointed out that lack of evidence is a reason to take another course.
“Yes, the court must be postponed,” the judge wrote. “But it's not blind.”
In an earlier hearing last month before Hegses' policy was announced, Reyes sparred with DOJ's lawyer Jason Lynch on the breadth of Trump's order, suggesting that it corresponded to “pure animus” supported by small evidence.
She instructed Lynch to sit, claiming that all the graduates of the University of Virginia Law School (his alma mater) would appear before her and be “liars” and “lack of sincerity.”
“Is that Anise?” she asked, bringing Lynch back to the podium.
Following the hearing, the Department of Justice submitted Complaint For Reyes's accusing her of cheating. Attorney General Pam Bondy's Chief of Staff Chad Mizzel allegedly the judge tried to “embarrass” Lynch in her hypothetical scenario.
Seven more transgender service members, backed by two LGBTQ civil rights groups, are challenging Trump's orders against the transgender forces in another lawsuit filed earlier this month in Washington. Two more active members challenged the order in a lawsuit filed Monday in New Jersey.
“From growing and working on my grandmother's family farm in Lisbon, Ohio to pursuing a graduate degree in criminology, I have focused on training, studying and achieving my goals to become a member of the military.” [day]He said after the hearing on March 13th. “I am currently a platoon leader of the military police force in the U.S. Army Reserve, and most of all, I want to continue the work I have qualified, trained and committed to serving my country.”
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