The Volokh Conspiracy
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Supreme Court Stays District Court Injunction Against Trump Administration Policy on Transgender Individuals in the Military
The Trump Administration will be able to exclude transgender individuals from the military pending the outcome of litigation challenging the policy.
Today, without opinion, the Supreme Court stayed a district court injunction barring implementation of President Trump's Executive Order on military readiness that would bar individuals from serving in the military other than in accordance with their biological sex. The order notes that Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have denied the federal government's stay request.
The Trump Administration has appealed the district court's order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Parallel litigation is ongoing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The outcome of these case is likely to be influenced (if not controlled) by the Court's pending decision in Skrmetti, as that case will almost certainly answer whether classifications based upon one's gender identity or on being transgender are subject to any form of heightened scrutiny, and whether courts should presume that such classifications are based upon impermissible bias or animus. So depending on how the Court ultimately resolves Skrmetti, this litigation may or may not return to One First Street.
