Overview
- The Justice Department filed a petition to the Supreme Court on Friday asking the court to lift a D.C. Circuit injunction and permit the Pentagon to discharge transgender service members while the constitutional challenge continues.
- Lower courts have blocked enforcement for named plaintiffs after finding direct evidence of animus in the Feb. 26, 2025 Hegseth policy, and a two-week trial in Talbott v. United States is set to begin on January 4, 2027.
- The administration argues the policy regulates the medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria rather than transgender status, and it asks the justices to apply a deferential rational‑basis standard instead of heightened scrutiny.
- Defense officials say about 4,240 service members have a gender‑dysphoria diagnosis, and advocates report the Pentagon has used closed‑door separation boards to pursue removals while litigation proceeds.
- If the Supreme Court takes the case and sides with the government, it could narrow judicial review of military personnel decisions and allow rapid, large‑scale discharges; if it declines, the district court trial will decide the ban’s constitutionality.