The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow the Pentagon to remove 29 transgender service members from the military, arguing that federal courts are improperly interfering with the military’s authority to determine who is eligible to serve.
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Solicitor General John Sauer urged the justices to take up the case before a trial scheduled for January, describing the dispute as a matter of “exceptional importance.”
“The authority of the U.S. military to determine who may serve in the Nation’s armed forces is a matter of exceptional importance,” .
The dispute involves a Trump administration policy restricting military service by individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
The Supreme Court last year allowed the administration to implement the policy while litigation continued. But in a separate lawsuit, U.S. v. Talbott, lower courts prevented the Pentagon from discharging the individual service members challenging the policy.
Sauer called that decision “gravely erroneous” and argued that it conflicts with Supreme Court precedent requiring substantial judicial deference to military decision-making.
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“The Court should thus take this opportunity to address the constitutionality of the Secretary Hegseth policy and reverse the decision below,” Sauer wrote.
Lower courts have concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on claims that the policy violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process and is rooted in animus toward transgender people. The administration strongly disputes those findings and maintains that the policy is based on military readiness and personnel standards.
The 29 plaintiffs include active-duty personnel, reservists, National Guard members and an individual seeking to enlist. They will be allowed to remain in or pursue military service while the current court order remains in effect.
Jennifer Levi, an attorney representing the plaintiffs for GLAD Law, said the service members meet military standards and accused the administration of attempting to remove qualified personnel for political reasons.
The justices are expected to consider this fall whether to hear the administration’s appeal before the lower courts issue a final decision on the merits.
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