JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/LGBTQ: “Justice Department lawyers shortly before midnight Wednesday [10-4-17] asked a federal judge to dismiss a challenge to President Donald Trump’s proposed transgender military ban, calling the challenge ‘premature several times over’ because the policy has yet to go into effect…
Under the directive, the Pentagon and DHS are expected to halt the use of government funds for sex reassignment surgical procedures by March 23, 2018. In addition, the directive extends indefinitely a ban on the enlistment of transgender people.
Although administration lawyers argued primarily that the challenge was premature because the Pentagon is currently studying how to implement the President’s directive, they also said that ‘federal courts owe the utmost deference to the political branches in the field of national defense and military affairs, both because the Constitution commits military decisions exclusively to those branches and because courts have less competence to second-guess military decision making.’
Wednesday’s filing saying that ‘no action’ will be taken until ‘after a policy review is completed’ suggests a scaling back in tone from the President’s July tweet that took much of his national security apparatus by surprise.
The legal filing is in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal advocates and Defenders in the US District Court for the District of Columbia asking for an injunction to block Trump’s ban.”
-Ariane de Vogue, “Trump admin argues it’s too early to challenge military transgender ban,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Oct. 5, 2017 11:49am