{"id":8534,"date":"2026-01-22T16:58:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/trumps-ban-on-transgender-troops-challenged-in-key-appeals-court-hearing\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:58:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:58:37","slug":"trumps-ban-on-transgender-troops-challenged-in-key-appeals-court-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/trumps-ban-on-transgender-troops-challenged-in-key-appeals-court-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s ban on transgender troops challenged in key appeals court hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/prettyman.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on July 14, 2025. (Photo by Jacob Fischler\/States Newsroom)\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on July 14, 2025. (Photo by Jacob Fischler\/States Newsroom)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s ban on transgender troops came under scrutiny again in federal court Thursday \u2014 this time before a three-judge appeals panel considering the merits of the president\u2019s executive order.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The policy has been challenged in two major federal cases, one of which the administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s emergency docket. In May, the justices allowed the ban to go into effect while the lawsuits continue in the lower courts.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For just over three hours at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, judges pressed the Trump administration and the lawyer for the plaintiffs in Talbott v. Trump for clarity on the ban instituted just under one year ago.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The panel was made up of Judges Judith W. Rogers, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994; Robert L. Wilkins, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014; and Justin R. Walker, a 2019 Trump appointee.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli, arguing for the administration, told the judges the ban in question rests on the findings and policy of former Secretary of Defense James Mattis.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe Mattis report does provide the rationale,\u201d Kambli said, when pressed by Wilkins on why \u201cpeople who\u2019ve been in (service) for years, with Bronze Stars and commendations\u201d are swept up in the policy.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWhat we have here is an area of medicine, which we can all agree there\u2019s uncertainty over,\u201d Kambli argued.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Mattis, who served during Trump\u2019s first term,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/1c\/Mattis_Memorandum_re_Military_Service_by_Transgender_Individuals_%2822_Feb_2018%29.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">disqualified<\/a> transgender service members from the military, except in very narrow circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A February 2022 Defense Department report concluded that transgender service members, even members who are not suffering a gender dysphoria diagnosis, \u201ccould undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion, and impose an unreasonable burden on the military.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kambli, moments later, added the courts are \u201cill equipped\u201d to decide the issue and should show deference to the military.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, said Kambli and the Trump administration ignored new information revealed after President Joe Biden reversed the Mattis ban and allowed transgender troops to serve openly.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Minter, who argued in court for the plaintiffs, said there was \u201czero evidence of any problems. \u2026 That is part of the record now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cSo for someone to come in and just go back to keeping people out \u2026 this is based on animus,\u201d Minter said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The government \u201chas to show there is a legitimate purpose,\u201d Minter said.<\/p>\n<h4>Process for discharging trans troops debated<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kambli told the judges that \u201cso far no one has been discharged\u201d and the policy is still \u201cin progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The transgender service members would be informed via letter of an honorable discharge, and would have the opportunity to go before a three-officer administrative discharge panel, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The special panel process is usually reserved for members who\u2019ve served six or more years, but the military will make an exception for trans members with less than six years of service, Kambli added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In an animated exchange, Rogers pressed back: \u201cThe end result is predetermined. It\u2019s a meaningless process. It\u2019s just moving paper around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Jennifer Levi, senior director for GLAD Law, one of the organizations representing the roughly 30 plaintiffs, told States Newsroom after the arguments that trans members have already been \u201cforced out\u201d through a voluntary process.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis was an important hearing, and the plaintiffs in this case are all meeting military standards and reflect some of the highest ideals of this country. They\u2019ve committed their lives to service, and the military has conceded that they have been able to contribute and meet all of the rigorous standards for service,\u201d Levi said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis hearing brought out just how devastating and harmful it is to purge a group of people who have been contributing and putting their lives on the line in service of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Pentagon declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.<\/p>\n<h4>Trump order<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump signed the order on Jan. 27, 2025, asserting the \u201cadoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual\u2019s sex conflicts with a soldier\u2019s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one\u2019s personal life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Further, the order said that being transgender is \u201cnot consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Eight active-duty service members and transgender individuals who are actively pursuing enlistment in the armed forces initially brought the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/69583866\/talbott-v-trump\/?filed_after=&amp;filed_before=&amp;entry_gte=&amp;entry_lte=&amp;order_by=desc\" target=\"_blank\">case<\/a> against Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among other officials and three branches of the U.S. military. The number of plaintiffs has since grown.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Ana Reyes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lailluminator.com\/2025\/03\/19\/repub\/transgender-troops\/\" target=\"_blank\">granted<\/a> the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction in mid-March, criticizing the administration in her 79-page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845\/gov.uscourts.dcd.276845.89.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">opinion<\/a> for a lack of data proving the claims in Trump\u2019s order.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cTransgender persons have served openly since 2021, but Defendants have not analyzed their service. That is unfortunate. Plaintiffs\u2019 service records alone are Exhibit A for the proposition that transgender persons can have the warrior ethos, physical and mental health, selflessness, honor, integrity, and discipline to ensure military excellence,\u201d Reyes wrote.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Administration officials swiftly appealed the case to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Oral arguments\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/transgender-troops-ban-nationwide-freeze-argued-us-appeals-court\" target=\"_blank\">were heard<\/a> April 22 before Judges\u00a0\u00a0Cornelia Pillard, appointed during Obama\u2019s second term, and Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, both appointed during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On Dec. 9, the three judges issued a 2-1\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889\/gov.uscourts.cadc.41889.2149475.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">decision<\/a> staying the lower court\u2019s preliminary injunction, with Katsas and Rao writing the Hegseth policy \u201clikely does not violate equal protection.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Pillard issued a blistering dissent, asserting the ban \u201cbrands all transgender people, without regard to individual merit, as unworthy to serve in our armed forces solely because they are transgender.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In a separate case,\u00a0Shilling, et al v. Trump, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 18\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe\/gov.uscourts.ca9.afaa7f8c-a307-4e35-a174-cf2fa59424fe.31.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">upheld<\/a> a lower court\u2019s ruling that allowed transgender troops to continue serving, denying the government\u2019s appeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In May, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump to ban transgender people from the military.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on July 14, 2025. (Photo by Jacob Fischler\/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s ban on transgender troops came under scrutiny again in federal court Thursday \u2014 this time before a three-judge appeals panel considering&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump\u2019s ban on transgender troops challenged in key appeals court hearing - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/trumps-ban-on-transgender-troops-challenged-in-key-appeals-court-hearing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s ban on transgender troops challenged in key appeals court hearing - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on July 14, 2025. 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Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on July 14, 2025. 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