Armed with a favorable Supreme Court decision, the Trump administration is seeking injunctive relief to clear the last legal impediment to imposing a ban on military service on most, but not all, transgender troops.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision lifted two preliminary injunctions imposed by federal judges in two separate cases in California and Washington state.
A third injection had been previously removed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
But the Pentagon said in a statement Wednesday that a fourth injunction by a federal court in Maryland remains in effect, blocking implementation of the policy drafted by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in February of 2018.
“DOJ [the Department of Justice] is seeking relief from this remaining injunction in light of the Supreme Court’s action, but at present it remains in place,” said Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokesperson in a statement Wednesday.
“The Department is consulting with the Department of Justice on next steps in the litigation,” she said. “We look forward to continuing to press our case in the courts.”
In the meantime, the Defense Department is still accepting transgender recruits under an Obama-era policy that opened military service to all regardless of their gender identity.
It is unclear how many new recruits are applying considering the uncertain status of the policy, and what would to those recruits, if the Trump ban eventually goes into effect.
Under the 2016 policy announced by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter discrimination against transgender individuals was no longer allowed, and troops were entitled to medical care if they transitioned while serving.
Under the 2018 Mattis policy transgender persons “without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria, who are otherwise qualified for service” may serve, so long as they serve in their “biological sex,” but service members who “who require or have undergone gender transition” would be disqualified from military service.
“Because it is critical that the Department be permitted to formulate personnel policies that it determines are necessary to ensure the most lethal and combat effective fighting force in the world, the Department welcomes the Supreme Court’s action,” Gleason said in a statement. “As always, we treat all Service members with respect and dignity.”
[Opinion: Trump’s military transgender ban is more reasonable than you think]
