A U.S. appeals court ruled the Pentagon cannot enforce a Trump-era policy that would kick transgender service members out of the military, finding it was “arbitrary and based upon animus.” The decision applies to expulsions, not the separate ban on enlisting.
A federal courtroom fight over who gets to wear a uniform reached a fresh, immediate limit for the Pentagon.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a policy that denies transgender and nonbinary Americans the right to choose their gender marker on their passports. while also ruling that the Pentagon’s plan to remove transgender service members violated their rights. The majority said the Pentagon’s approach was “arbitrary and based upon animus. ” and described it as driven by “the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group.”.
Two of three judges agreed that the sweeping removal implemented by the Trump administration last year was unconstitutional. Judge Robert Wilkins—appointed by former President Barack Obama—wrote in the majority opinion that the policy “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender.”.
Judge Justin Walker, nominated by President Donald Trump, dissented. In the minority opinion, Walker said striking down the Pentagon’s policy would amount to an “unprecedented intrusion into the internal operations of the armed forces.”
The ruling matters because it is not a broad overhaul of every transgender-related military rule. It applies specifically to the Pentagon’s move to expel transgender people serving in the military, while leaving in effect a ban on transgender people enlisting.
The decision followed a lawsuit brought by a group of transgender service members. They sued the Trump administration in response to the policy after Trump implemented it soon after taking office for the second time. The Pentagon later moved to identify and fire thousands of transgender service members and barred others from joining.
A federal judge had put the policy on hold in March 2025, describing it as “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.” Two months later, the Supreme Court ruled the policy could go into effect.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth issued the ban on transgender people serving in the military in February 2025, effectively reviving a ban Trump had instituted in his first term. During the Biden administration, the policy had been scrapped days after Biden took office in 2021.
Hegseth said people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria “cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service. ” according to a memo he issued last year. He tied the ban on transgender service members to his push to eradicate what he called “woke” policies throughout the military.
Jennifer Levi of LGBTQ rights group GLAD Law, representing the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling. In a statement. Levi said: “This decisive ruling confirms that the Trump Administration has no legitimate basis to discharge transgender service members who have met every demanding standard and proven. time and again. their fitness and dedication to serve.”.
After the appeals court ruling, Hegseth posted on X: “See you at SCOTUS,” using the acronym for the Supreme Court.
The policy debate is unfolding within the Pentagon’s much larger personnel system. The military has about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, according to Department of Defense data. Advocates for transgender rights say there are as many as 15. 000 transgender service members. while officials say the number is in the low thousands.
For now, the courts have drawn a line at what the Pentagon can do to transgender troops who are already in uniform—while leaving the separate question of enlistment restrictions untouched.
transgender service members Pentagon policy D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Pete Hegseth Supreme Court LGBTQ rights GLAD Law passport gender marker military ban