On 13 April 2018 the policy was stayed when a federal district court ruled that the 2018 memorandum essentially repeated the same issues as its predecessor order from 2017, that transgender service members were a protected class entitled to strict scrutiny of adverse laws, and ordered that matter continue to a full trial hearing on the legality of the proposed policy.
Enactment
On March 23, 2018, Maj. David Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Washington Blade that the “DOD will still comply with federal court rulings and continue to assess and retain transgender service members,”. On March 24, 2018, Eastburn said that given ongoing lawsuits and court rulings on the issue that there is "likely be no immediate impact on transgender service." The Memorandum for Sector Commanders, Battalion Commanders, MEPS Commanders, Directors, and Special Staff Officers, issued December 8, 2017, enacted a policy guidance to recruits to explain how to enlist transgender individuals and states that the memorandum “shall remain in effect until expressly revoked.” On April 18, 2018, Commandant Paul F. Zukunft told the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security that the United States Coast Guard would continue to allow transgender members to serve unless specific legislation is passed banning them. On February 6, 2019, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, the assistant adjutant general for the California National Guard, told the California Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee that the California National Guard would not remove transgender soldiers and airmen from its ranks.
Lawsuits
There are four lawsuits involving the policy: On 13 April 2018 the policy was stayed in Karnoski vs. Trump, when the court ruled that the 2018 memorandum essentially repeated the same issues as its predecessor order from 2017, that transgender service members were a protected class entitled to strict scrutiny of adverse laws, and ordered that matter continue to a full trial hearing on the legality of the proposed policy. The government has petitioned the US Supreme Court in November 2018 to reverse the stay while the cases are pending. The Court, in a 5-4 order along ideological lines issued in January 2019, agreed to lift the stay while they continued to deliberate on the merits of the cases.
