The Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday granted an emergency request from the Trump administration, allowing the government to implement its ban on most transgender individuals serving in the military while legal challenges against the policy continue.
The high court’s action in the case, United States, et al. v. Shilling, Commander, et al., lifts a nationwide preliminary injunction that had been issued by a federal judge. That injunction, entered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on March 27, 2025, in case number 2:25-cv-241, is now stayed, meaning its enforcement is temporarily halted.
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The injunction was sought by seven individual transgender service members, led by lead plaintiff Emily Shilling, a Navy commander, who had sued to block the ban. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously declined to put the Washington state judge’s ruling on hold, prompting the Trump administration to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s order states that the preliminary injunction is stayed pending the resolution of the appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and, if pursued, a timely petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. The stay will automatically terminate if certiorari is denied. If certiorari is granted, the stay terminates upon the sending down of the Supreme Court’s final judgment.
The policy at the heart of the dispute, announced in February [presumably 2025 based on context], is described as more comprehensive than a similar proposal from the first Trump term. It “generally disqualifies from military service individuals who have gender dysphoria or have undergone medical interventions for gender dysphoria,” according to Solicitor General D. John Sauer’s court papers arguing for the ban.
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In arguing for the stay, the government contended that courts should show “substantial deference” to the Defense Department’s judgment on military issues. The government has cited a Pentagon report from the first Trump term that claimed people with gender dysphoria pose a threat to “military effectiveness and lethality.”
The plaintiffs challenging the ban argue it violates the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, among other constitutional provisions.
Their lawyers assert that transgender service members have proven their ability to serve effectively, noting that then-President Joe Biden had rolled back similar restrictions from the first Trump term. They also contend that the ban is motivated by “an unprecedented degree of animus towards transgender people” and is based on the “shocking proposition that transgender people do not exist.”
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have denied the application for the stay, meaning they would have preferred to keep the preliminary injunction in place.
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In a separate but related case, a judge in Washington, D.C., had also blocked the policy nationwide. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit temporarily put that ruling on hold while it considers whether to block it more permanently.
With the Supreme Court’s stay now in place for the Washington state case, the Trump administration’s policy on transgender military service is permitted to be enforced nationwide pending the outcome of the appeal in the Ninth Circuit and any potential future review by the Supreme Court.
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