A federal judge on Tuesday questioned President Donald Trump's motives for issuing an executive order that calls for banning transgender troops from serving in the U.S. military, describing a portion of the directive as "frankly ridiculous."
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes indicated that she won't rule before early March on whether to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing the order, which the plaintiffs' attorneys allege illegally discriminates against transgender troops.
Reyes was appointed by Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in February 2023 and is reportedly the first openly LGBT person and first Hispanic woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Her questions and remarks during Tuesday's hearing suggested she is deeply skeptical of the administration's reasoning for ordering a policy change. Reyes also lauded the service of several active-duty troops who sued to block the order.
Trump's Jan. 27 executive order stated "the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion. It added that longstanding policy requires the Department of Defense to ensure that service members are "free of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization."
"As a result, many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty, from conditions that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization," the order stated.
Reyes focused on a portion of the order that the sexual identity of transgender service members "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life" and is harmful to military readiness. The order requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to issue a revised policy.
Six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military sued to block the Trump administration from enforcing the order.
The plaintiffs' attorneys contend that Trump's order violates transgender people's rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment, marking them as "unequal and dispensable, demeaning them in the eyes of their fellow service members and the public."
"The ban is an irrational and prejudicial attack on service members who have risked their lives to serve their country," they wrote in a court filing.
During Trump's first term, he issued a similar directive to ban transgender service members. The Supreme Court allowed the ban to take effect, and Biden scrapped it when he took office.
Reyes said the order's language smears thousands of transgender troops as dishonest, dishonorable and undisciplined.
Government attorneys said the plaintiffs are prematurely challenging an order that doesn't immediately require transgender troops to be discharged. The Justice Department also argued the constitutional right to equal protection "requires only that similarly situated persons be treated alike."
"A transgender individual identifying as a woman is not similarly situated to a biological female, nor is a transgender individual identifying as a man similarly situated to a biological male," they wrote.
Trump's order also stated that "use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual's sex" is inconsistent with a government policy to "establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity."
Reyes said it is "frankly ridiculous" to suggest that pronoun usage could impact the military readiness of U.S. armed forces.
"Because it doesn't. Because any common sense, rational person would understand that it doesn't," said Reyes, who is expected to hear more arguments Wednesday and again on March 3.
The military has about 1.3 million active-duty personnel, according to Pentagon data. Although transgender rights advocates said there are as many as 15,000 transgender service members, NBC News reported Feb. 10 that officials said the number is in the low thousands.
The plaintiffs include an Army Reserves platoon leader, an Army major who was awarded a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan and a Sailor of the Year award winner serving in the Navy. They are represented by attorneys for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD Law.