Appeals Court Temporarily Allows Ban on Troops With Gender Dysphoria

The court said a lower court failed to give the military enough deference.

The Pentagon in seen from the Washington Monument in Washington, on Nov. 17, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has temporarily halted a lower court’s decision to halt the Trump administration’s ban on troops with gender dysphoria.

“The military is entitled to substantial deference in setting risk tolerances and evaluating conflicting evidence bearing on matters like force composition,” U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas wrote in an opinion released on Dec. 9. “Here, the evidence supporting the Hegseth Policy was more than sufficient to support the choices made,” he added, referring to the ban put in place by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.