Trump’s Military Transgender Ban Blocked by Federal Judge Facing Misconduct Complaint

A preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender-identifying individuals from serving in the U.S. armed forces. 

Executive Order 14183, Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness, was signed by Trump on Jan. 27. It held that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

According to the order, “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.” The ban had not taken effect yet. 

The executive order reinstates a long-standing Department of Defense policy that was changed during President Barack Obama’s second term. Trump reinstated the policy during his first term, and the Supreme Court permitted it to take effect. The transgender ban was reversed by President Joe Biden after he took office in 2021. 

Reyes, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Biden in 2023, in the hearing about the executive order derided it as “illogical judgments based on conjecture.” 

The Justice Department filed a complaint to the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Feb. 21 against Reyes for misconduct that occurred during the hearing about the president’s ban on transgender troops. The author of the complaint, Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, wrote that despite the case being about simply the “ripeness and success on the merits,” Reyes took issue with a variety of the government’s positions, including whether there are only two sexes.

The judge contended that the government’s position on two biological sexes was incorrect: “[T]his executive order is premised on an assertion that’s not biologically correct. There are anywhere near about 30 different intersex examples. So, someone who does not have just an XX or XY chromosome is not just male or female; they’re intersex. And there are over 30 potential different intersex examples.”

Reyes also accused the president of “literally erasing transgender people” and began questioning one of the DOJ attorneys about his religious views.

“What do you think Jesus would say to telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters? Do you think Jesus would be, ‘Sounds right to me’? Or do you think Jesus would say, ‘WTF? Of course, let them in?” Reyes said, according to the transcript of the hearing. 

The complaint argues that such a hypothetical put the attorney “in an untenable position,” in which he either appeared unresponsive or was speculating about “how an incoherent hypothetical aligns with Judge Reyes’ personal religious beliefs.”

The attorney ended up replying that the government was not going to speculate about what Jesus would have said about anything. The complaint also questioned the judge’s use of the acronym “WTF,” which it contends “sheds light on the severity of the judge’s lack of professional decorum.”

The complaint also argued that Reyes attempted to embarrass the government counsel by making him sit down and derided his alma mater, the University of Virginia Law School. According to the transcript after she had the DOJ lawyer sit down, she claimed all UVa. Law grads were “liars and lack integrity.” The complaint held that this violated the code of conduct for federal district judges, specifically Canon 3A(4), which instructs judges to “accord to every person who has a legal interest in a proceeding, and that person’s lawyer, the full right to be heard, according to law.”

The complaint holds that the judge also violated Canon 2A, which holds judges to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” as well as Canon 3A(3) that says judges should “be patient, dignified, respectful, and courteous.”

The complaint calls for an investigation to establish whether there is a pattern of alleged misconduct that would warrant “more significant remedial measures.” It notes that ”[w]hen judges demonstrate apparent bias or treat counsel disrespectfully, public confidence in the judicial system is undermined.”

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