A split federal appeals panel ruled that War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s policy banning transgender military service is unconstitutional.
The 2-1 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday marks a temporary setback for the Pentagon’s policy. If the policy had gone into effect, it would have affected transgender service members and barred transgender recruits from entry.
Judge Robert Wilkins, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote for the court’s majority. He was joined by Judge Judith Rogers, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 stating that individuals who identify as a gender “divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.” Wilkins’ ruling also notes that Trump and Hegseth described transgender people as “unfit” for military service.
“In this litigation, the government has not attempted to defend or provide any factual basis for these disparaging characterizations of American citizens,” Wilkins wrote.
“Instead, the government contends that this case is solely about whether, pursuant to the Hegseth policy, the military can disqualify persons from military service because they have gender dysphoria, a mental health condition,” the ruling continued.
Wilkins wrote that the Pentagon’s policy contrasts with restrictions adopted during Trump’s first administration, “which allowed service members who were transgender or who had suffered from gender dysphoria to remain in the military.” He added that the new policy “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender.”
“As such, at this preliminary stage, I conclude that the Hegseth policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus, and for those reasons the policy violates plaintiff-appellees’ constitutional right to equal protection of the law,” the ruling states.
Judge Justin Walker, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote the dissenting opinion, arguing in part that the matter is outside the court’s purview. He pointed to the Supreme Court’s 1953 ruling in Orloff v. Willoughby, in which the majority held that “judges are not given the task of running the Army.”
“Only the executive and Congress are responsible for systemwide military judgments about the composition of the armed forces,” Walker wrote. “The Supreme Court has never assumed that role for itself. Neither has the D.C. Circuit. Not until today.”
