in

Pete Hegseth suggests judge report to military bases after ruling that Pentagon must allow transgender troops

pete-hegseth-suggests-judge-report-to-military-bases-after-ruling-that-pentagon-must-allow-transgender-troops
Pete Hegseth suggests judge report to military bases after ruling that Pentagon must allow transgender troops

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said the judge who ruled that the Pentagon must allow transgender troops should report to military bases since she is “now a top military planner.”

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction last week blocking the Pentagon from enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military.

Trump’s Jan. 27 order said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and instructed the Department of Defense to update its medical standards for military service and pronoun policies.

The president’s order said that “beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”

In her ruling, the judge said Trump’s order contains language that is “unabashedly demeaning,” adding that the policy “stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (L) arrives at the Pentagon for the first time since being confirmed after being greeted by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q Brown (R) January 27, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.

Pete Hegseth said the judge who ruled that the Pentagon must allow transgender troops should report to military bases since she is “now a top military planner.” Getty Images

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks next to President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025.

Trump’s order from January said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.” REUTERS

Hegseth responded to the ruling on the social media platform X.

“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,” he wrote.

The judge delayed her order until Friday morning to allow time for the Trump administration to appeal, which it said it would do.

Ana Reyes, nominee for district court judge in Washington, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 22, 2022.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes who made the ruling said the policy “stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit.” REUTERS

Army Capt. Kristen Griest (R) participates in an obstacle course as part the training at the U.S. Army Ranger School June 23, 2015 at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Soldiers participating in an obstacle course as part of training at the U.S. Army Ranger School in Fort Benning, Georgia in June 2015. Getty Images

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025

“Since ‘Judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600,” Hegseth wrote on the platform X. Getty Images

Reyes said in her decision that the executive order likely poses constitutional rights violations.

“The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Reyes wrote. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”

“Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” the judge added, noting that the defendants, on the other hand, “have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest.”

trump-admin-tells-hundreds-of-thousands-of-biden-paroled-aliens-in-us.-to-leave

Trump Admin Tells Hundreds Of Thousands Of Biden-Paroled Aliens In U.S. To Leave

two-arrested-in-new-mexico-car-shoot-shooting-that-killed-three-as-cops-id-teen-victims

Two arrested in New Mexico car shoot shooting that killed three as cops ID teen victims