The Supreme Court has allowed the ban to take effect, in a win for the Trump administration—and a loss for thousands of active transgender service members.
When President Donald Trump first announced a ban on transgender people in the military, the outcry was fierce: Activists decried the decision for violating civil rights, experts highlighted research debunking the president’s claims, and federal courts blocked the administration’s policy. Now, the Supreme Court has chosen to put two of these rulings on hold, allowing the ban to continue temporarily, in what’s seen as a win for the Trump administration—and a devastating loss for thousands of active transgender service members.
The court’s decision has also raised questions about the ban’s future challenges and immediate effects. Here are the answers to some of those questions.
In a 5-4 vote led by its conservative majority, the Supreme Court lifted injunctions preventing the transgender service ban from going into effect, as previously issued in two lower court rulings: Trump v. Karnoski and Trump v. Stockman, according to the Brookings Institute’s Lawfare blog. This decision will allow the ban to continue temporarily, but it’s not the final word from the Supreme Court.
Tuesday’s decision was two-fold: First, the justices declined to hear legal challenges to the ban this term, leaving the possibility open for future litigation, such as the case pending in a California-based federal appeals court. In denying the Trump administration’s request to rule on these cases’ legal merits, the justices have given the lower courts a chance to weigh in, as is the Supreme Court’s standard practice, according to Reuters.
