DOJ says it will ask U.S. Supreme Court to undo block on Trump’s transgender military ban

The Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday that it plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling protecting transgender service members from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s military ban.In a motion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Justice Department attorneys asked the court to keep that ruling from taking effect while the administration prepares its appeal to the Supreme Court.The government said it expects to file its petition by August 30 and does not plan to seek an extension. The transgender service members challenging the policy oppose the request, DOJ attorneys noted.The timing was especially consequential. The D.C. Circuit’s ruling was scheduled to take effect Thursday, the same day the Justice Department filed its request to stop the mandate. Transgender troops had been preparing for the possibility that the court’s protection would finally allow them to return to their duties after months of uncertainty. Instead, the government moved at the last moment to keep that relief from taking effect while it prepares its Supreme Court petition.Related: Federal appeals court rules that Trump’s trans military ban appears discriminatory In June, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit ruled that the administration should not be allowed to discharge the transgender service members who brought the lawsuit while their case continues in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The appeals court did not provide the same protection to transgender people seeking to enlist.That decision involved a preliminary injunction, a temporary court order intended to prevent harm while a lawsuit is still pending. It was not the final ruling on whether the military policy is constitutional.The appeals court has issued its decision, but it has not yet taken the final procedural step that makes the ruling effective. That step is known as issuing the mandate. The Justice Depar