Second appeals court rejects Trump request to delay transgender troop enlistment

A new ruling on Friday deals another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to bar transgender people from joining the military starting Jan. 1.

The new D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals order came a day after the Virginia-based 4th Circuit similarly rejected the Trump administration’s request to block a ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly allowing the enlistment. A panel on a powerful federal circuit court of appeals on Friday was asked to stay that order but rejected it.

President Trump announced over the summer transgender troops would no longer be allowed in the military.

However, Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her injunction that the military must continue to follow the policies established by former President Obama’s memo that allowed transgender individuals to enlist.

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The D.C. appeals court said in its decision that the Trump administration failed to prove a good reason for having Kollar-Kotelly’s order stayed. 

“Finally, in the balancing of equities, it must be remembered that all plaintiffs seek during this litigation is to serve their nation with honor and dignity, volunteering to face extreme hardships, to endure lengthy deployments and separation from family and friends, and to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives if necessary to protect the nation, the people of the United States, and the Constitution against all who would attack them,” the court said in its order.

Trump announced on Twitter in July that he planned to bar transgender people from enlisting in the military. The White House issued a memo in August outlining the plan. 

The Pentagon issued a memo earlier this month in response to court orders blocking Trump’s ban. That memo details how the military would process transgender recruits.