Hegseth Critiques Judge's Ruling on Transgender Military Service
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that the judge who ruled in favor of allowing transgender troops should report to military bases, following her decision to block President Trump’s transgender military ban.
In a recent development that has stirred significant debate, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The ruling, which was issued last week, has been met with a sharp response from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who took to social media to voice his critique.
Hegseth, in a provocative statement, suggested that Judge Reyes should report to military bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Bragg to train military personnel. “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 on the platform X.
The executive order by President Trump, issued on January 27, stated that expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot meet the rigorous standards necessary for military service. It also mandated the Department of Defense to update its medical standards and pronoun policies accordingly. Judge Reyes, in her ruling, described the language of the order as “unabashedly demeaning” and argued that it stigmatizes transgender individuals as inherently unfit for service.
The judge delayed the implementation of her order until Friday morning to give the Trump administration time to appeal, which it indicated it would pursue. In her decision, Reyes highlighted potential constitutional rights violations posed by the executive order and emphasized the contributions of transgender service members. “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,” she noted.
As the debate over transgender rights in the military continues, Hegseth’s comments have added fuel to the fire, highlighting the tensions between judicial decisions and military policy.