The Trump administration urged a federal appellate court in Washington on Tuesday to allow the U.S. military to implement a ban on transgender people serving, telling the judges the government plans to fight the issue to the Supreme Court in a separate case.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, after hearing oral arguments, gave no clear view of how it might rule as the Trump administration asks to move forward with an executive order that laid the groundwork for the ban.
A lower court had issued a scathing ruling that blocked the policy, saying the ban was “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.” The D.C. Circuit last month paused that lower court order until it rules on the Trump administration appeal, in an order that also said it could reconsider that decision if the military took action that negatively affected transgender service members.
