The Latest: Judge Won’t Consider New Transgender Troop Plan

March 27, 2018

Associated Press,

SEATTLE (AP) – The Latest on a federal court hearing in Seattle regarding President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people entering the military (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

A federal judge in Seattle says she won’t immediately consider President Donald Trump’s new policy banning transgender people from serving in the military.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is one of four federal judges who have issued orders blocking Trump’s decision last year to overturn an Obama-era directive allowing transgender troops to serve openly. On Friday, Trump issued a new policy following a Pentagon review, saying transgender troops would be banned with limited exceptions.

Pechman had scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the merits of the administration’s prior decision, but the Justice Department asked her to dissolve her previous order, saying it’s now moot.

The judge said she didn’t want to hear arguments about that Tuesday, because the transgender people challenging the ban hadn’t had time to analyze the new policy.

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9:50 a.m.

One of the four federal judges who blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people entering the military has a chance to consider the implications of the president’s new policy on the topic, issued just days ago.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle had scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on Trump’s decision last year to overturn an Obama-era directive allowing transgender troops to serve openly.

But late Friday, Trump issued a new policy following a Pentagon review, saying that transgender troops would be banned with limited exceptions.

The Justice Department is asking Pechman to dissolve her December order blocking the president’s previous decision. The DOJ says her order is moot in light of the new policy issued Friday.

Democratic Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson says Trump’s “last-minute maneuvering does nothing to save his unlawful and discriminatory policy.”