The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to review a federal appeals court’s decision blocking its ban on transgender people serving in the military.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the ban, enacted last year via executive order, is necessary to maintain military readiness and should be judged under a lower legal standard. He called a lower court’s ruling against the policy “gravely erroneous” and warned it would interfere with the government’s authority over military affairs.
A federal judge in March 2025 temporarily blocked the ban, calling it discriminatory and based on animus. The D.C. Circuit later upheld part of that ruling, preventing the government from enforcing the ban against current service members. The administration now seeks to reverse that decision.
The challengers have about a month to respond before the Supreme Court decides whether to take the case.
