Second judge blocks Trump's Pentagon policy banning transgender troops
Source: USA Today
Published 2:39 p.m. ET March 24, 2025
A second federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Pentagon’s policy banning transgender troops, after two Air Force servicemembers said they had been removed from training and assignments and faced removal from the military as early as Wednesday. “These harms are immediate, ongoing, and significant, and cannot be remedied in the ordinary course of litigation," U.S. District Judge Christine O’Hearn in New Jersey wrote, temporarily blocking the policy.
Her order came after U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked the same policy, in a different challenge on March 18 while the case continues to be litigated. She paused the order to give the Trump administration time to appeal.
The D.C. case largely deals with Army and Navy servicemembers, while the New Jersey case features Air Force sergeants. In both cases, decorated troops are fighting to remain in the military where they have earned commendations. The Trump administration is expected to appeal both initial rulings in different appeals circuits, which would allow the matter to potentially reach the Supreme Court, if necessary, to uphold the policy.
Transgender troops have filed at least three lawsuits against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s policy, which followed President Donald Trump’s executive orders declaring, contrary to a broad medical consensus, that there are only two sexes and requiring transgender troops to serve in the uniform and barracks of their birth sex.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/24/second-judge-blocks-trumps-pentagon-transgender-ban/82637457007/
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