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A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed Pentagon temporarily forced to enforce he reinstated the ban on transgender military service, ruling that a lower court improperly blocked the Trump administration's 2025 policy.
The decision marks a major development in one of the most closely watched military policy cases in the country.
The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stays the district court's preliminary injunction and allows the Trump administration to continue enforcing the restrictions while the litigation continues.
“Today's victory is a great victory for the security of the American people,” White House press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. “As Commander in Chief, President Trump has the executive authority to ensure that our War Department prioritizes military readiness over woke gender ideology.”
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A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration's Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to temporarily enforce a renewed ban on transgender military service. (Getty/Imagn)
Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, speaking for the majority, said the district court erroneously substituted the Pentagon's decision for its own.
“The United States Military maintains strict medical standards to ensure that only physically and mentally healthy individuals join its ranks. For decades, these requirements have prohibited service to people with gender dysphoria, a condition associated with clinically significant distress,” the majority wrote.
The judges continued: “Nevertheless, the district court tentatively recommended the 2025 policy based on its contrary assessment of the evidence. [Hegseth] is considered a sentence. Accordingly, we are reserving the preliminary injunction pending the Government's appeal.”
FEDERAL JUDGE SUPPORTS TRUMP'S “RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY” DECREE
The policy was adopted under the leadership of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. (Julia Demaree Nihinson/AP)
2025 Policy adopted under President Donald Trump and Minister of War Pete Hegseth“generally bars individuals with gender dysphoria from serving in the Armed Forces,” the court noted.
By most accounts, the Pentagon concluded that the policy would advance “the important military interests of readiness, unit cohesion, and cost control.”
Judge Patricia Millett Pillard expressed strong dissent, accusing the Trump administration of failing to justify the renewed ban and saying the motives behind it were unacceptable.
SUPREME COURT GIVES TRUMP VICTORY ON TRANSGENDER PASSPORT POLICY CHANGE
The judges speaking for the majority said the district court erroneously replaced the Pentagon's decision with its own. (Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“There may well be compelling reasons to review and change military service policies established by previous administrations. But we can’t say for sure based on this,” Pillard wrote.
“Defendants have presented no evidence that they based their new policy on any assessment of costs, benefits, or any other factor legitimately affecting military necessity. Indeed, “there is no evidence that [President Trump or Secretary Hegseth] “consulted with uniformed military leaders before enacting an unprecedented ban on transgender service members,” Pillard added.
Pillard said the administration's approach reflects “animosity from the start,” pointing to President Trump's Jan. 27 Executive Order 14183 or Prioritize military superiority and readinessreleased in February.
In that order, Trump declared it “the policy of the United States” that “acceptance of gender identity is inconsistent with a person's sexual conflicts with a soldier's commitment to honorable, truthful and disciplined living, even in private life.” The order also stated that openly identifying as transgender is “incompatible with the humility and selflessness required of a service member” and directed Hegseth to develop an implementation policy within 60 days.
Policies regarding transgender services have changed several times over the past decade. The restrictions were relaxed in 2016, tightened in 2018, relaxed again in 2021 and reinstated in 2025, the court noted. The district court stayed the latest version earlier this year, prompting a successful Pentagon appeal to stay the case.
The case now heads back to district court for a full trial and is expected to continue moving toward what could ultimately become a trial. Supreme Court Review.
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The War Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
