By Luc Cohen
(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Monday denied a request by the Trump administration to pause a lower court’s decision blocking President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Washington, last week issued a preliminary injunction putting on hold the military’s new policy of identifying and discharging any transgender service members.
The Trump administration appealed Settle’s ruling, and asked the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling on hold - which would have allowed it to enforce the ban for now - while the appeal played out.
On Monday, a three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit denied the Trump administration’s request for a so-called administrative stay of Settle’s ruling.
A Justice Department spokesperson said, “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.”
Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, two civil rights groups that brought the case on behalf of seven active-duty transgender service members, said in a statement that it was pleased that the status quo would remain in place while it litigates "on behalf of transgender servicemembers who serve our country selflessly and with distinction and honor."
In a similar case last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative stay on a lower court order blocking the transgender ban.
But that court signaled that it may quickly reconsider its decision if the military takes action against transgender members.
In his March 27 order, Settle wrote that the military had operated smoothly for four years under a policy allowing transgender people to serve openly.
"Any claimed hardship (the military) may face in the meantime pales in comparison to the hardships imposed on transgender service members," the judge, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, wrote in his decision.
In its request for an administrative stay, lawyers for the Trump administration said Settle substituted his judgment for that of the military.
Absent a stay, the lawyers wrote, "The military will be forced to continue implementing a policy that the Department has determined is not compatible with military readiness and lethality."
Lawyers with Perkins Coie are among those representing the seven plaintiffs who challenged the transgender ban in the case before Settle.
Perkins Coie is among several prominent law firms Trump has targeted with executive orders that make it difficult to conduct business.
A judge earlier this month blocked most of that executive order, which would have stripped security clearances from Perkins Coie lawyers and rolled back their access to government officials.