The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled Tuesday to allow the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military to take effect while ongoing legal challenges play out in lower courts.
The Supreme Court decision marks a significant development in a legal fight over a policy that presumptively ban transgender people from serving, reversing a previous Obama-era directive that allowed open service. The Court’s ruling lifts lower court injunctions that had previously blocked the enforcement of the ban. However, it is not a final ruling on the legality of the policy itself.
The court’s liberal wing—Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan—objected, stating they would have kept the policy on hold pending further review.
President Trump reintroduced the ban shortly after beginning his second term, framing it as a move to protect military discipline and cohesion.
In an executive order, he asserted that allowing transgender individuals to serve openly was “inconsistent with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle,” and claimed their presence posed risks to military readiness.
Following the president’s directive, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued guidelines giving military branches 30 days to establish procedures for identifying and discharging