The Trump administration has been dealt another legal blow, with a federal court ruling that the president illegally banned transgender troops from military service.
A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled on Monday that Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violated their constitutional rights, and was driven by a desire to harm transgender people.
The decision centers on an executive order Trump signed in January 2025, claiming that the the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.
In response to the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service.
However, Obama-appointed Judge Robert Leon Wilkins said these the restrictions appeared “arbitrary” and unsupported by evidence.
“The government’s stated reason for issuing the Hegseth Policy as based solely upon gender dysphoria was pretextual, and that instead, the Hegseth Policy was premised, at least in part, on a non-legitimate state interest to harm the politically unpopular group of transgender persons,” Wilkins wrote for the majority.
He also said that the policy memos and FAQs issued by the Trump administration to support their case, contained “numerous statements demeaning transgender people as lacking honesty, integrity, and humility because of their gender identity.”
The move is the latest setback Trump has faced in the courts within days.
It comes after the president’s planned $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund suffered a double whammy on Friday: a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the scheme, and another federal judge suggested she may reopen the precipitating case amid an investigation into the backroom deal.
The president was also enraged after another judge ordered his name removed from the Kennedy Center and put a stop to a planned two-year closure for renovations he claims are necessary.
The ruling on transgender troops marks a notable defeat not only for Trump but also for Hegseth, who has been one of the administration’s most outspoken critics of transgender military service.
Before taking office, the former Fox & Friends co-host repeatedly attacked diversity initiatives within the armed forces and argued that transgender personnel undermined military readiness.
In one of his most controversial remarks, Hegseth dismissed transgender service members as “men in dresses,” a comment that drew sharp criticism from LGBTQ advocates and veterans’ groups.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon and the White House for comment.
It is expected the administration will appeal the decision, which now blocks it from removing transgender troops already serving in the military.
Restrictions on future transgender troops will continue while the lawsuit against the government makes its way through the courts.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker, who was nominated by Trump, said judges lack the power to second-guess the decision to exclude transgender troops.
