The Trump administration asked a D.C.-based federal judge to dissolve a previous injunction blocking the Pentagon’s ban on transgender troops.
In a Friday filing, the government argued that President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military is not an overarching ban but instead “turns on gender dysphoria — a medical condition — and does not discriminate against trans-identifying persons as a class.”
The government cited new guidance that the Department of Defense expects to implement, were it not for the ongoing litigation, that clarifies “the phrase ‘exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria’” solely applies to “‘individuals who exhibit such symptoms as would be sufficient to constitute a diagnosis.'”
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The filing cites a memo sent on Friday with the new guidance.
Under the requirements, a party requesting to dissolve a preliminary injunction must demonstrate “a significant change either in factual conditions or in law” that shows that continued enforcement of the order would be “detrimental to the public interest.”
“The March 21, 2025, guidance constitutes a ‘significant change,’” the filing reads. “Whereas the Court has broadly construed the scope of the DoD Policy to encompass all trans-identifying servicemembers or applicants, the new guidance underscores Defendants’ consistent position that the DoD Policy is concerned with the military readiness, deployability, and costs associated with a medical condition — one that every prior Administration has, to some degree, kept out of the military.”
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The Trump administration further requested that, if the motion to dissolve was denied, the court should stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal.
During a Friday hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden-appointed federal judge, expressed that she wanted the Defense Department to push back their implementation deadline of the ban, allowing for more time in the appeals process. Reyes gave the government a 3 p.m. Friday deadline to circle back with her.
“I don’t want to jam up the DC Circuit, that’s my main concern here,” Reyes said during the in-person hearing. “My chambers worked incredibly hard to get out an opinion on time.”
“Use your considerable charm and skill to get your clients to agree to this,” she told government lawyers.
Reyes issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs earlier this week, writing that the plaintiffs in the suit, which include transgender individuals, “face a violation of their constitutional rights, which constitutes irreparable harm” that would warrant a preliminary injunction.
Reyes continued on to say that the “President and Defendants could have crafted a policy that balances the Nation’s need for a prepared military and Americans’ right to equal protection.”
Reyes wrote at the time that they “still can.”
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“The Military Ban, however, is not that policy,” she continued. “The Court therefore must act to uphold the equal protection rights that the military defends every day.”
“The Court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that ‘all people are created equal,’ all means all,” Reyes wrote. “Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.”
At issue in the case is a Jan. 27 executive order signed by Trump requiring the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said Wednesday the Pentagon would be appealing Reyes’ decision.
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“We are appealing this decision, and we will win,” Hegseth posted on X.
Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Andrew Mark Miller, Cameron Cawthorne and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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