Pete Hegseth has joined other high-ranking members of the Trump administration in criticising judge Ana Reyes for ruling against the ban on transgender people in the military.
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth mocked Ana Reyes for blocking an executive order signed by Trump in January which aimed to remove trans men and women serving in the armed forces.
Reyes, the first out LGBTQ+ person to serve as a district court judge in Washington and who was appointed during Joe Biden’s time in the White House, issued an injunction on Tuesday (18 March), calling the policy “unabashedly demeaning”.
The ban amounts to discrimination on the basis of sex and that there was no evidence transgender troops have harmed the military in any way, the judge said.
“The military ban is dripping with pretext. Its language is unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatises transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact,” said Reyes.
Hegseth took to social media to express his frustration at the decision. In a post on X/Twitter, he wrote: “Since ‘judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our army rangers on how to execute high-value target raids.”
He then referred to her as “commander Reyes”, appearing to be mocking her title and suggesting she didn’t have the expertise necessary to rule on transgender troops.
Since “Judge” Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare. https://t.co/CNrl252Irs
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 22, 2025
Pete Hegseth is a veteran who has made banning transgender troops and abolishing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives a top priority. As part of an ongoing DEI purge of the Department of Defense website, image of famed World War II aircraft Enola Gay were flagged to be deleted, information about Navajo code talkers was removed, and even a page celebrating the wartime contribution of Golden Girls star Bea Arthur was taken down.
The ban on transgender military personnel triggered several lawsuits, with plaintiffs arguing that it violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, despite the fact that both Trump and Hegseth have broad authority to dismiss military officers.
Lawyers for the administration have claimed that the army, navy and air force had the right to bar people with certain conditions that make them unsuitable for service, such as bipolar or an eating disorder.
There have been rising tensions between Trump’s team and members of the federal judiciary in recent weeks, Reuters reports. Trump, his “special advisor” Elon Musk, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials have launched attacks on judges who have issued rulings impeding some of Trump’s actions, sparking concerns about their safety.
For instance, Trump recently called for the impeachment of the judge presiding over a legal challenge to deportation flights, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic” and a “troublemaker and agitator” – prompting the US Chief Justice to issue a rare rebuke of the president.
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