Trump asks Supreme Court to fast-track ruling on transgender military ban

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump to ban transgender in military President Donald Trump says he wants transgender people barred from serving in the U.S. military 'in any capacity,' citing tremendous medical costs and disruption. (July 26)

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to fast-track a ruling on the Pentagon’s policy of restricting military service by transgender people.

The policy, announced by the president over Twitter in 2017, would block many of those with a condition called gender dysphoria from serving in the military and overturn an Obama-era decision that allowed these individuals to serve. Trump's policy does allow transgender individuals to serve, but only if they serve with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked in the request Friday that a number of legal challenges to the policy be consolidated and heard before the Supreme Court. The move, though, would bypass federal appeals courts, which have drawn ire from President Donald Trump for rulings against many of his policies.

Legal challenges to the transgender policy have so far been mostly won by advocates who sued on behalf of transgender individuals. Francisco requested Friday that three cases in lower courts be fast-tracked, skipping appeals courts, and heard before the high court so the rulings could be finalized.

"The decisions imposing those injunctions are wrong, and they warrant this Court’s immediate review," Francisco wrote in the request, asking justices to "consider this important dispute this term."

"There is no urgency here and no reason for the Court to weigh in at this juncture," said Jennifer Levi, GLAD transgender rights project director. "The injunctions preserve the status quo of the open service policy that was thoroughly vetted by the military itself and has been in place now for more than two years. This is simply one more attempt by a reckless Trump administration to push through a discriminatory policy. The policy flies in the face of military research and dozens of top military experts."

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The AP reports it’s the fourth time in recent months that the Trump administration has made the unusual request of skipping the normal court process and instead asking a case be heard before the Supreme Court, which recently reaffirmed its conservative leaning with the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Other cases the Trump administration asked be fast-tracked including rulings on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, a climate change lawsuit, a citizenship question to the 2020 census, according to the AP.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a frequent target of criticism by Trump, is involved in three of the cases. The president this week upped his criticism of the court and got into a war of words with the Supreme Court's Chief Justice John Roberts.

Trump called the judge, who ruled against his policy that would stop migrants trying to enter the U.S. from applying for asylum, an "Obama judge" and said the 9th Circuit was "disgrace."

More: Transgender service members doubt Trump can kick them out

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Roberts, normally restrained, issued a statement that took on the president's characterization of the court and its judges.

"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges," Roberts said in a statement. "What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."

"That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for," Roberts added.

It's unclear whether the high court will accept the Trump administration's request to hear the transgender case but it would be a fairly rare situation if it was approved.

The Supreme Court almost always waits to get involved in a case until both a trial and appeals court have ruled in it. Often, the justices wait until courts in different areas of the country have weighed in and come to different conclusions about the same legal question.

It's unordinary for the justices to intervene early as the Trump administration has been pressing them to do. One famous past example is when the Nixon administration went to court to try to prohibit the publication of the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Contributing: Associated Press