‘Animus on its face’: Trump DOD’s trans servicemember ban comes under fire from federal judges

Three federal judges were skeptical of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order banning transgender service members from the military during oral arguments Tuesday.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia cast doubt on the Trump administration’s policy barring transgender servicemembers from the military, interrogating Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney Jason Manion on whether or not the order contained “animus” against transgender people. The panel had two Trump appointed judges, Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, as well as Obama appointee Cornelia T.L. Pillard.

“We have a sitting president issuing an executive order that has animus on its face, not directing anyone, any panel of experts, to study this issue, but simply directing the secretary of defense to implement a ban on transgender service by transgender persons,” Pillard said to Manion. “And within a month, the secretary of defense doing so with no further study other than the Mattis policy.”

However, Rao asked if the government ever conceded that there was “animus” behind the order, which Manion denied. Minter, however, called the order “extraordinarily unusual,” while saying the Trump administration was “expressing animosity” towards transgender servicemembers.

“The bottom line is the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members is not an act of animus towards transgender people, but rather a critical measure needed to restore our military’s strength, readiness, and lethality,” Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of DoD Watch and the Coalition for Military Excellence, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There is overwhelming scientific evidence suggesting that transgender individuals do not meet the physical and mental standards needed to adequately serve in the military, which is why this is entirely a matter of national security.”

D.C. District Court Judge Ana Reyes initially issued a preliminary injunction on the order March 18, halting the law’s enforcement until a formal ruling is issued. Transgender military members had sued in January over the order, alleging the policy violates the U.S. Constitution under equal protection afforded under the Fifth Amendment.

Reyes was appointed under former President Joe Biden in 2023, being the first LGBT federal judge in D.C.

Reyes said in her March decision that transgender members did not affect readiness, while also saying the DOJ based its assessments of the effectiveness of transgender soldiers on “pure conjecture.”

The DOJ did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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