Appeals court allows Pentagon to revive transgender military service ban

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., authorized the Pentagon on Tuesday to temporarily reinstate its policy banning transgender people from military service, in a ruling overturning a lower court's injunction.

The decision represents a major endorsement for President Donald Trump and his administration, which had defended the measure as a matter of military readiness and internal discipline.

The ruling, approved by a 2-to-1 vote, holds that the trial judge improperly substituted her own judgment for that of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and military leadership.

Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao said the military has maintained strict medical standards for decades, and that the current policy, similar to previous regulations, is well-founded because it seeks to ensure the physical and mental fitness of those in the ranks.

"The United States military enforces strict medical standards to ensure that only physically and mentally fit individuals join its ranks. For decades, these requirements barred service by individuals with gender dysphoria, a medical condition associated with clinically significant distress," the majority wrote.

The White House celebrated the court's decision.

"Today's victory is a great win for the security of the American people," said spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who said President Trump has the authority to prioritize "military readiness over woke gender ideology."

However, Judge Patricia Millett Pillard also issued her own dissent, accusing the government of failing to justify reimplementing the ban.

Pointedly, Pillard criticized the lack of evidence that President Trump or Secretary Hegseth consulted with senior uniformed commanders before imposing the measure, suggesting that the policy may have been motivated by "animus from the start."

The regulation, meanwhile, has oscillated several times over the past decade: relaxed in 2016, restricted in 2018, relaxed again in 2021 and reinstated in 2025, according to Fox News. The district court had blocked the most recent version, but the Pentagon managed to revive the rule as the litigation moves forward.

Despite the appeals court's OK, the case is far from over and will now return to the district court for a full review. In fact, it could all come back to the Supreme Court, where most of the Trump administration's policies that were challenged by Democrats throughout 2025 have ended up.