President Donald Trump speaks to the media about Syria, Nancy Pelosi, and his proposed border wall as he departs the White House for Dover Air Force Base on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 2019. In a March memorandum, Trump concurred with the policy recommendations of then-Defense Secretary James Mattis that transgender individuals "with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria" are unable to serve except under limited circumstances. That policy was constrained by existing court orders that blocked earlier attempts to ban transgender troops.
“For more than 30 months, transgender troops have been serving our country openly with valor and distinction, but now the rug has been ripped out from under them, once again," said Lambda Legal Counsel Peter Renn. "We will redouble our efforts to send this discriminatory ban to the trash heap of history where it belongs.”
The Justice Department vowed to keep defending the Trump policy in the courts.
“We are pleased the Supreme Court granted stays in these cases, clearing the way for the policy to go into effect while litigation continues. The Department of Defense has the authority to create and implement personnel policies it has determined are necessary to best defend our nation," DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec said in a statement.
"Due to lower courts issuing nationwide injunctions, our military had been forced to maintain a prior policy that poses a risk to military effectiveness and lethality for over a year. We will continue to defend in the courts the authority and ability of the Pentagon to ensure the safety and security of the American people,” the DOJ statement continued.
ABC News' Jack Date contributed to this story.
Kaynak:Abcnews