Judge Ana Reyes heard the challenge to Trump’s transgender service member ban. It did not go well for the DOJ.
Technically, it wasn’t a “ban” but an executive order titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.” Though instead of canceling the F-35 or anything that might actually improve military readiness, the order calls out “gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex” as incompatible with military service because it would violate “a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
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This screwball honor code articulation represents the work of Trump’s remedial school attorneys to circumvent the legal obstacles of a ban. It’s like Orwellian newspeak but much more stupid.
Judge Reyes did not appreciate this coy effort to disguise the ban as something else, noting that if the infamously unable to shut up president were asked directly if this was intended as a ban on transgender service members he’d say “of course, it is” — a phrasing that’s probably too coherent for him, but the sentiment is what matters.
But Reyes dismantled the DOJ’s effort to downplay gender animus in a scathing back-and-forth with DOJ attorney Jason Lynch, whom Chris Geidner notes is a 9-year DOJ veteran out of UVA Law.
Hold onto this detail.
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As the hearing continued to plummet into lunacy, Judge Reyes questioned how the government thought it could avoid showing “animus” by recasting the ban as a matter of the service members’ honor. Of all the roundabout efforts to get this ban, basing it on accusations of dishonor and lying seems the least likely to get there. That brought us to the following exchange (image hat tip to Michael Paulauski on Bluesky):
See, in that scenario, I would simply curl up into a ball and asked to be left at the defense table to die. This whole “being Trump’s personal lawyer” thing isn’t working out too well for DOJ staff.
I know the job market is flooded with DOJ resignations right now, but it might be time to get out of this case before the stench of this representation hangs onto his career forever.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.