On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s request to implement its ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. In a decision that reflected the ideological divide within the court, the ruling passed with a 6-3 majority.
The Court’s action effectively lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction, allowing the ban to take effect while the matter is under appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Notably, the liberal justices—Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson—dissented, advocating for the denial of this application, though the Court provided no detailed reasoning for its decision.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration’s transgender military ban to take effect. pic.twitter.com/qUBz7zYFfX
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 6, 2025
In a recent turn of events, President Trump sought intervention from the Supreme Court after a lower court had placed a temporary hold on his military ban for transgender troops. The Ninth Circuit, known for its more liberal leanings, had previously rejected the administration’s request for a stay against its injunction, with a panel of judges appointed by Clinton, Obama, and Biden denying the stay.
In January, Trump had signed two executive orders: the “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” and “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.” These directives aimed to ensure that military operations would proceed without preferences based on race or gender, while also addressing what the administration termed “gender insanity” and “made-up pronoun usage.”
However, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Hale Settle, a George W. Bush appointee, issued a nationwide preliminary injunction in March, asserting that the arguments presented by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) lacked persuasiveness.
In response, the DOJ filed an appeal, which was subsequently denied by the D.C. Circuit Court. The court stated that the appellants had not demonstrated that they would face irreparable harm if the stay was not granted. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling has allowed the ban to proceed while the legal battle continues in the appeals court.
