The Judicial branch is drunk on power. The Trump administration is utterly stunned.
Because a Biden federal judge has hit Trump with an insane ruling that will make you furious.
Biden-Appointed Federal Judge Rules Against Trump Admin’s Executive Order On Military
On Tuesday night, a federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden issued a ruling that halted the Trump administration’s attempt to enforce a de facto ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military. In an unexpected twist, Judge Ana Reyes of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia turned to the popular Broadway musical Hamilton to support her decision, rather than directly quoting the well-known line from the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal.” Instead, Reyes opted for the phrase “all people are created equal,” drawing from the musical’s themes to make her point. Biden named Reyes to her judicial position in February 2023, and her ruling has sparked attention for its cultural reference as much as its legal implications.
In her detailed filing, Reyes made it clear that issuing the preliminary injunction was not a decision she took lightly. She wrote, “The Court does not issue this preliminary injunction lightly. Judicial overreach is no less pernicious than executive overreach. But the coordinate branches must, ‘by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places.’” She went on to argue that the Trump administration and its officials had the opportunity to create a policy that could balance military readiness with the equal protection rights of all Americans.
“They still can,” she noted, but stressed that the current Military Ban falls short of that goal. “The Court therefore must act to uphold the equal protection rights that the military defends every day,” she explained. “The Court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that ‘all people are created equal,’ all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.”
Reyes included a footnote tied to her “all people are created equal” statement, pointing to Hamilton as a source of inspiration. She explained that the Declaration of Independence’s original wording excluded women from its promise of equality—a gap that persisted until the 19th Amendment granted women voting rights in 1920.
Interestingly, this reference comes at a time when Hamilton, a production beloved by many liberals, faced its own setback in Washington, D.C. The musical’s planned 2026 run at the Kennedy Center, a prestigious venue popular among the city’s elite, was canceled after the Trump administration assumed power and restructured the center’s leadership in February.
Throughout her ruling, Reyes traced a historical pattern of exclusion in the military, observing, “Leaders have used concern for military readiness to deny marginalized persons.” She cited past examples, noting, “First minorities, then women in combat, then gays filled in that blank. Today, however, our military is stronger and our Nation is safer for the millions of such blanks (and all other persons) who serve.” Her argument framed the inclusion of diverse groups as a source of strength rather than a liability, challenging the reasoning behind the Trump administration’s policy.
Reyes was sharply critical of the ban itself, describing it as rooted in bias rather than evidence. At one point, she wrote that the policy “is soaked in animus and dripping with pretext,” suggesting that the administration’s justification lacked substance and was driven by discriminatory intent. Her repeated emphasis on this point highlighted her view that the ban fails to align with constitutional principles of equal protection.
The ruling stands in direct contrast to the priorities of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has made it clear that he intends to steer the Pentagon away from what he calls Left-wing social engineering. Hegseth has specifically targeted transgender ideology as part of his mission to refocus the military on its core purpose of fighting and winning wars and defending American interests no matter what.
This judge ruled that the military has to take in trans troops pic.twitter.com/ljfNBiTmEL
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 19, 2025
His agenda, which gained momentum after the Trump administration took office, now faces a significant roadblock with Reyes’ injunction, setting the stage for further legal and political battles over the future of military policy.
The Origins of The Executive Order From President Trump
The Pentagon had implemented a directive to separate service members and recruits diagnosed with gender dysphoria from the U.S. military. This action follows an executive order issued by President Trump on January 27, 2025, just a month before the memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office was made public in March.
The memo explicitly states that individuals with “a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria” are deemed “incompatible” with military service. This aligns with the executive order, which identified gender dysphoria as inconsistent with the government’s expectations for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.
Under the new Pentagon directive, procedures must be established within 30 days to identify affected service members and initiate their separation from the military. However, the policy allows for exceptions on a case-by-case basis. These exceptions may occur if the government determines there is an “interest in accessing the applicant that directly supports warfighting capabilities” or if a service member can demonstrate 36 consecutive months of “stability” in their s*x “without clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”
The Pentagon memo also clarifies the Department of Defense’s stance on s*x and gender, declaring that “The Department only recognizes two s*xes: male and female. An individual’s s*x is immutable, unchanging during a person’s life.” Additionally, it mandates that “Pronoun usage when referring to Service members must reflect a Service member’s s*x. In keeping with good order and discipline, salutations (e.g., addressing a senior officer as “Sir” or “Ma’am”) must also reflect an individual’s s*x.”
This policy marks a reversal of previous changes made during the Biden administration, which had lifted an earlier ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. That initial ban stemmed from a series of tweets by President Trump in 2017 during his first term. Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump consistently voiced his intention to reinstate the prohibition on transgender service members, making last month’s executive order a fulfillment of that promise.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
