Trump asks Supreme Court to consider transgender military ban
- The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to consider the president's efforts to bar transgender people from serving in the US military.
- The Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to consider the ban in the current term, meaning a decision would be set for June 2019.
This would require bypassing the normal judicial process, as the Justice Department is essentially asking justices to review the cases before appeals courts have had an opportunity to rule on the issue.
- Trump's repeated attempts to implement his transgender military ban have been widely condemned as inherently discriminatory.
The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to consider the president's efforts to bar transgender people from serving in the US military.
Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco called on the justices to take up three cases challenging the ban, which aims to reverse Obama-era policy allowing transgender people to openly serve and receive funding for sex reassignment surgery.
The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to consider the ban in the current term, meaning a decision would be set for June 2019. This would require bypassing the normal judicial process, as the Justice Department is essentially asking justices to review the cases before appeals courts have had an opportunity to rule on the issue.
Francisco in Friday's filing decried rulings from federal judges preventing the ban from being implemented.
"The decisions imposing those injunctions are wrong, and they warrant this Court's immediate review," Francisco wrote.
Read more: Trump tells the Pentagon to declare an indefinite ban on transgender military recruits
The solicitor general reiterated past claims from the Trump administration on the matter, contending the ban would bolster the US military's effectiveness and preparedness.
"In my professional judgment, these policies will place the Department of Defense in the strongest position to protect the American people, to fight and win America's wars, and to ensure the survival and success of our Service members around the world," he added.
A 2016 study from RAND Corporation, which was requested by the Defense Department, found allowing transgender people to serve in the military has a "minimal impact on readiness and health care costs," contradicting assertions from the Trump administration to the contrary.
Trump's repeated attempts to implement his transgender military ban have been widely condemned, with critics describing the move as inherently discriminatory.