The executive order directs the Department of Defense to revise policies to exclude individuals who identify with a gender different from their biological sex from military service, citing concerns over unit cohesion, mental and physical readiness, and overall military effectiveness.
Executive Order 14183, titled "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness", is an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on January 27, 2025, banning transgender people from military service.[1][2] In March 2025, a federal judge blocked the Executive Order.[3]
The order declares it the policy of the United States government that identifying as a gender that differs from an individual's assigned sex “conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life”.[4]
The order declares that the use of pronouns inconsistent with one's assigned sex compromises the ability of the government to "establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity"[5]
Within 60 days, the United States Department of Defense (USDOD) must update medical enlistment and retention standards to align with this order.
The USDOD will discontinue the practice of accommodating pronoun usage based on self-identification rather than assigned sex.
Identify further measures needed for full implementation.
Provide a report to the President summarizing these measures.
Service members will be required to use sleeping, changing, and bathing facilities corresponding to their assigned sex, with exceptions only in cases of operational necessity.
Will be executed in compliance with applicable laws and subject to budgetary considerations.
Does not create enforceable legal rights or benefits for any individual against the U.S. government.
Contains a severability clause ensuring that if any part of this order is found to be legally invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in effect.
Implementation
On February 10, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth filed a memo with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. stating that, effective immediately, no "individuals with a history of gender dysphoria" would be permitted to join the military, and no "medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition" would be provided to service members.[6]
Legal challenges
The order was challenged in a court filing, Talbott v. Trump, by six active duty transgender service members, and two prospective members, who sought a preliminary injunction. One of the active duty soldiers alleged that while on approved leave to receive medical care, he received a call saying that he would be considered AWOL if he did not return immediately. In a court hearing with US District Judge Ana C. Reyes, the plaintiffs were argued for by GLAD Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi; while the Department of Justice was represented by Jason Lynch.[7][8]
During the hearing, the plaintiffs argued that the order violated their rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and had made them "unequal and dispensable, demeaning them in the eyes of their fellow service members and the public". The defense meanwhile agreed that the transgender service members impacted were "honorable, truthful, and disciplined" and had made the United States safer, but argued for the ban on the grounds that “A transgender individual identifying as a woman is not similarly situated to a biological female, nor is a transgender individual identifying as a man similarly situated to a biological male".[5][9]
Judge Reyes described the order as an attempt to label "an entire category of people dishonest, dishonorable, undisciplined, immodest, who lack integrity -- people who have taken an oath to defend this country, who have been under fire, people who have taken fire for this country", saying that it showed an "unadulterated animus" towards the transgender community, and that portions of it were "frankly ridiculous".[7][5] Shortly thereafter, the Department of Justice filed a rare judicial complaint against Reyes for "hostile and egregious misconduct".[10]
On March 18, 2025, Reyes blocked the executive order, ruling that banning trans people from the military likely violated their constitutional rights. Reyes stayed her order three days, to give time for an appeal.[3]
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