Trump Justice Department’s latest bid to sideline 17 transgender troops’ revoked retirement lawsuit fails

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to send a lawsuit over transgender troops’ revoked retirements to an Air Force records board, keeping the dispute in court as service members fight for the pensions and healthcare coverage they were promised.Judge Elaine D. Kaplan ruled from the bench after hearing arguments in Ireland v. United States at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. The Advocate attended the hearing. The ruling does not restore the plaintiffs’ retirements or decide whether the Air Force broke its own rules by taking them away.Related: Transgender Air Force members sue Trump administration over revoked retirementsThe retirement orders the Air Force took backThe case began with an offer. After President Donald Trump moved to bar transgender people from military service last year, the Air Force told some affected personnel with 15 to 18 years of service that they could apply for early retirement as an exception to policy. It issued orders to 17 Air Force and Space Force members in June 2025. In August, it rescinded them. The Advocate reported that the orders had given the service members retirement dates around which to plan their lives.The plaintiffs argue that an Air Force regulation allows issued retirement orders to be rescinded only in limited circumstances, such as fraud or error, and that the service has identified no such basis for revoking theirs.Related: Gen. Stanley McChrystal presides over historic farewell for five transgender troops forced into retirementJudge questions why the case should leave courtOn Tuesday, Justice Department attorney William Porter Rayel asked Kaplan to refer the case to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records. He argued that the board could determine whether officials with the necessary authority had approved the original retirements and establish the basis for rescinding them. Under questioning from Kaplan, Rayel acknowledged that the decision to re