{"id":2519647,"date":"2025-12-10T12:14:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-trans-military-prohibition\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T12:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:16:22","slug":"d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-trans-military-prohibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-trans-military-prohibition\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C. Appeals Court Upholds Trump&#8217;s &#8216;Trans&#8217; Military Prohibition"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fd-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-trans-military-prohibition%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2519647&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the Trump management&#8217;s policy prohibiting transgender individuals from serving in the military. In a 2-1 ruling, the court paused a previous injunction issued by a Biden-appointed judge that had blocked the policy from taking effect. Judge Gregory Katsas, writing for the majority, emphasized the military leadership&#8217;s judgment that the policy supports combat readiness, unit cohesion, and cost control, criticizing the district court for insufficiently deferring to military expertise. The decision marks a significant legal victory for the Trump administration, following a related Supreme Court ruling that temporarily blocked similar injunctions. Dissenting Judge Nina Pillard argued that the policy is rooted in negative attitudes toward transgender identity. the case may proceed to en banc review by the full D.C. Circuit or return to the Supreme Court for further consideration.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Trans_flag_at_P%C3%A9cs_Pride_2025.jpg\">Banned pride\/Wikimedia Commons\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/10\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-prohibition-on-trans-soldiers-in-the-military\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=D.C.%20Appeals%20Court%20Upholds%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20Prohibition%20On%20%E2%80%98Trans%E2%80%99%20Soldiers%20In%20The%20Military&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/10\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-prohibition-on-trans-soldiers-in-the-military\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=D.C.%20Appeals%20Court%20Upholds%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20Prohibition%20On%20%E2%80%98Trans%E2%80%99%20Soldiers%20In%20The%20Military&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/10\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-prohibition-on-trans-soldiers-in-the-military\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/10\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-prohibition-on-trans-soldiers-in-the-military\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=D.C.%20Appeals%20Court%20Upholds%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20Prohibition%20On%20%E2%80%98Trans%E2%80%99%20Soldiers%20In%20The%20Military&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/10\/d-c-appeals-court-upholds-trumps-prohibition-on-trans-soldiers-in-the-military\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>In a major win for the Trump administration, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-return-to-the-white-house-will-impact-5-court-cases\/\" title=\"Trump&#039;s Return To The White House Will Impact 5 Court Cases\">federal appellate court upheld<\/a> the Pentagon&rsquo;s prohibition on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/daniel-radcliffe-choosing-sides-against-j-k-rowling-in-trans-argument-was-important\/\" title=\"Daniel Radcliffe: Choosing Sides Against J.K. Rowling In Trans Argument Was \u2018Important\u2019\">trans-identifying individuals<\/a> from serving in the military on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889\/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889.1208803654.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2-1 ruling<\/a>, a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals fully paused a March <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/biden-judge-blocking-the-militarys-trans-policy-donated-thousands-to-democrat-candidates-causes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">injunction<\/a> issued by Biden-appointed District Judge Ana Reyes that sought to prevent the aforementioned policy from going into effect. As The Federalist&rsquo;s Joy Pullmann previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/20\/valley-girl-federal-judge-cites-broadway-play-rips-up-constitution-in-trans-soldiers-screed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Reyes &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonblade.com\/2023\/02\/17\/ana-reyes-confirmed-as-first-lgbtq-federal-judge-in-d-c\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identifies<\/a>&nbsp;as some variety of LGBT, is a longtime&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/biden-judge-blocking-the-militarys-trans-policy-donated-thousands-to-democrat-candidates-causes\/\">Democrat Party donor<\/a>&nbsp;and, as a lawyer, litigated against the first Trump administration.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1295047126\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Writing for the majority, Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, noted how War Secretary Pete Hegseth &ldquo;concluded&rdquo; that adopting a policy prohibiting gender dysphoric individuals from service &ldquo;would advance important military interests of combat readiness, unit cohesion, and cost control.&rdquo; Despite the secretary&rsquo;s consultation of existing data and &ldquo;more recent studies&rdquo; to justify the decision, Katsas wrote, the district court &ldquo;nonetheless preliminarily enjoined the 2025 policy based on its own contrary assessment of the evidence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In our view, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >court afforded insufficient deference<\/a> to the Secretary&rsquo;s considered judgment. Accordingly, we stay the preliminary injunction pending the government&rsquo;s appeal,&rdquo; Katsas wrote, later adding that, &ldquo;The Hegseth Policy is likely constitutional because it reflects a considered judgment of military leaders and furthers legitimate military interests.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Katsas was joined in his opinion by Judge Neomi Rao, also a Trump appointee.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Obama-appointed Judge Nina Pillard penned a lengthy dissent, in which she claimed that the government&rsquo;s adoption of the policy is &ldquo;based on nothing more than negative attitudes about transgender identity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The D.C. Circuit&rsquo;s ruling marks the second major litigation victory for the Trump administration in its battle over the policy. <\/p>\n<p>Back in May, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/06\/scotus-blocks-lower-court-injunction-on-trump-admins-military-trans-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">temporarily halted<\/a> a separate lower court injunction that similarly attempted to prevent these standards from being adopted by the military. The decision was 6-3, with Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. <\/p>\n<p>In his Tuesday opinion, Katsas harkened back to the high court&rsquo;s temporary order as further evidence favoring the Trump administration in the case. <\/p>\n<p>He specifically noted that by granting the government&rsquo;s request to pause the injunction, the Supreme Court &ldquo;already has held that the government is likely to succeed on its contention that the Hegseth Policy does not violate equal protection.&rdquo; He also argued that the high court&rsquo;s order further &ldquo;indicates that the government would suffer an irreparable injury if the Hegseth Policy were enjoined pending appellate review of preliminary injunctions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>At this point, plaintiffs in the case may now seek a full rehearing before the entire D.C. Circuit Court (&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/en_banc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">en banc<\/a>&rdquo; review). They may also ultimately file an emergency application for stay at the Supreme Court, which, as previously noted, has already terminated one lower court blockade on the policy and would likely do so again in separate cases over the same issue. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ana-reyes\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ana Reyes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/d-c-circuit-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">D.C. Circuit Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/military\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">military<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Pete Hegseth<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ruling\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ruling<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trans-soldiers\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">trans soldiers<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/transgenderism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">transgenderism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump Administration<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit Banned pride\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY-SA 4.0 Share In a key Trump admin win, court upheld Pentagon&#8217;s ban on trans military service Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2519648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trans-flag.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[68577,32546,39947,68578,3634],"class_list":["post-2519647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-d-c-appeals-court","tag-legal-decision","tag-military-policy","tag-trans-military-ban","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trans-flag.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519647"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2519651,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519647\/revisions\/2519651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2519648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}