The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to pause a lower court's ruling that temporarily blocked its ban on transgender troops in the military. (Getty)
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a preliminary injunction in March, barring the administration from identifying and removing transgender service members while the case proceeds.
The administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but a three-judge panel rejected its request to stay the injunction.
The administration argued in court filings that the policy "furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs."
However, the Ninth Circuit declined to grant an administrative stay, which would have let the government enforce the ban while the legal challenge moved forward.
"The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness Executive Order, and will continue to do so," a Justice Department official told Fox News Digital at the time.
The policy has faced multiple legal challenges, including a high-profile lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C.
FEDERAL COURT WARNS PENTAGON NOT TO ACT AGAINST TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS DURING APPEAL
The policy has become the target of multiple legal challenges, with one notable suit out of Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Reyes had asked the government to push its original March implementation deadline, saying she wanted to allow more time for the appeals process.
She also said she had previously allowed plenty of time to appeal her earlier opinion blocking the ban from going into effect.
"I don’t want to jam up the D.C. Circuit. That’s my main concern here," Reyes said during the March 21 hearing. "My chambers worked incredibly hard to get out an opinion on time."
Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Haley Chi-Sing is a politics writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-urges-supreme-court-let-trans-military-ban-proceed