Pentagon chief criticizes judge for overturning ban on transgender people in US military

District Judge in Washington, Ana Reyes, ruled that President Donald Trump's executive order from January 27 - one of several presidential orders aimed at restricting the rights of transgender Americans - likely violates the US Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

In response to this ruling, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mocked the judge on social media platform X. He sarcastically referred to her as Commander Reyes and suggested that she was abusing her power by making decisions about military operations.

"Since 'Judge' Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids. After that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare," wrote Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Reuters notes that federal courts are currently reviewing over 100 lawsuits challenging various initiatives by President Trump and his administration. Some judges have issued nationwide injunctions to block measures like the president's decision to limit automatic birthright citizenship.

Although Trump and Austin have broad powers to remove US military officers, their attempts to ban transgender service members have led to numerous legal challenges.

Discharge of transgender individuals from the US military

After returning to the presidency, Donald Trump issued an order against transgender individuals serving in the US military. In February, it was revealed that the US intended to begin discharging transgender individuals from service within a month.

Recently, when a judge blocked Trump’s ban on transgender military service, Pete Hegseth announced plans to file an appeal to lift the block.

Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that in January 2025, Trump ordered the recognition of only two genders in the US – male and female.