Federal Court Issues Convoluted Ruling Restoring Military Service For Some Trans Military Members

A Federal Court of Appeals ruled Monday in a 2-to-1 decision that the Trump administration’s military ban removing current transgender members of service is unconstitutional.

In a May 2025 ruling, the Supreme Courtallowedthe “Hegseth policy” prohibiting members of the military from openly identifying as transgender, when a lower court attempted to stop it. The Federal Court of Appeals ruling on Monday, however, denied the Hegseth policy from removing current members of the service affected by gender dysphoria,accordingto ABC News.

Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee, and Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee, ruled that current transgender service members cannot be removed.

“The Hegseth policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus, and for those reasons the Policy violates Plaintiff-Appellees’ constitutional right to equal protection of the law,” Wilkins wrote in the majority opinion.

“These Plaintiff-Appellees consist both of active-duty service members and those desiring to enlist. Under the Hegseth Policy, those Plaintiff-Appellees currently serving in the military — who have been honorably serving for many years — now face expulsion,” the opinion continued. “In a similar vein, in accordance with the Hegseth Policy, those Plaintiff-Appellees desiring to enlist and who have applied for admission to the military are now excluded from accession.”

The Trump Administration’s ban on new members affected by gender dysphoria from joining the service is still in effect. In February 2025, the Department of Defense claimed that those with gender dysphoria do not have “the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”