Second judge blocks Trump policy banning transgender service members

A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday blocked enforcement of President Trump’s order to bar transgender troops from serving openly in the military, the second to halt the policy from taking effect nationwide. 

In a 65-page ruling, Judge Benjamin Hale Settle of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington said the Trump administration had offered no evidence to support removing transgender service members, who served without issue under the Biden administration, from the military.