Ordered by Three Federal Court Judges to Accept Transgender Military Recruits, Trump Administration Once Again Files Appeal

Two Losses for Trump Administration

The Trump administration is refusing to take no for an answer. Three federal court judges separately have ordered the U.S. military to accept new transgender recruits as of January 1, 2018, in accordance with prior Pentagon plans. The Pentagon has agreed to comply with these court orders, the most recent coming Monday evening, but the Justice Dept. has wasted no time in once again appealing the latest ruling – announcing almost immediately Monday night it would appeal.

Federal district court judges in Seattle, Washington D.C., and Baltimore have all ordered the Pentagon and the Trump administration to hold to the January 1 date. The DOJ claims the Pentagon has too much work to do to prepare for the new recruits and cannot possibility meet that deadline. The judges disagree.

“Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the government would not be ‘irreparably injured’ if the January 1 deadline remained in place as the lawsuit continues,” CNN reports. “After the ruling, however, the Justice Department appealed the judge’s ruling to a DC-based federal appeals court.”

“The government seeks a stay pending appeal of the portion of the injunction concerning accessions,” government lawyers said in their brief filed late Monday. They argued that implementing “a significant change” to military standards for the composition of the armed forces even before a court decides the merits of the case would “place extraordinary burdens on our armed forces and may harm military readiness.”

False claims of harm to “military readiness” were also used in opposition to open service by gay, bisexual, and lesbian service members, are were proven false.

Also on Monday another federal judge struck a blow to the Trump administration’s hopes of banning transgender service members.

“In a 23-page decision, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman determined Monday in the case of Karnoski v. Trump the policy likely violates rights to equal protection and substantive due process as well as rights under the First Amendment,” The Washington Blade reports. 

“The court finds that plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo that existed prior to the change in policy announced by President Trump on Twitter and in his presidential memorandum,” Pechman writes.

In an out-of-the-blue series of tweets July 26 President Trump announced his intention to implement a total ban on transgender troops. falsely claiming he had consulted with his generals.  

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