Supreme Court lets Trump enforce transgender military ban

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's emergency request on May 6, 2025 via a 6-3 unsigned shadow docket order. The court lifted Judge BSBenjamin Settle's nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the transgender military ban.

Six conservative justices (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) voted to allow the ban. Three liberal justices (Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson) dissented. The court provided no written explanation for the decision.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14183 on Jan. 27, 2025, the day he took office. The order revoked Biden's 2021 executive order allowing transgender troops to serve openly and required Defense Secretary PHPete Hegseth to ban service members with gender dysphoria.

Defense Secretary Hegseth issued a February 7, 2025 memo pausing transgender recruitment and halting gender-affirming surgeries and newly-initiated hormone therapy. After the Supreme Court ruling, Hegseth posted on X: 'No More Trans @ DoD.'

The Pentagon counts 4,240 active-duty, Guard, and Reserve personnel with gender dysphoria diagnoses, representing 0.2% of the 2.1 million total troops. About 1,000 service members volunteered for separation after the ruling.

Active-duty transgender troops have until June 6, 2025 to begin the separation process or face discharge. Reserve troops have until July 7. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed approximately 1,000 troops self-identified as having gender dysphoria diagnoses.

Judge BSBenjamin Settle, a former Army captain and Bush appointee, issued the March 27 preliminary injunction blocking the ban. He called it a 'de facto blanket prohibition on transgender service.' In a separate case, Judge Ana Reyes described the ban as 'soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.'

Commander ESEmily Shilling leads the Shilling v. Trump lawsuit challenging the ban. She has 19 years of Navy service and 60 combat missions. The lawsuit includes seven plaintiffs with a combined 115+ years of military service. Lambda Legal and Human Rights Campaign serve as co-counsel.