Judge, DOJ attorney spar over pronouns at transgender military ban hearing
A judge pressed the Justice Department on a Trump executive order directing the military to stop using preferred pronouns and argued there was no link between pronouns and military readiness.
In a heated exchange Tuesday, a federal judge pressed the Justice Department on an executive order from President Donald Trump that directed the military to stop using preferred pronouns, arguing there was no link between pronouns and military readiness.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes had asked the Justice Department to explain how pronoun usage would impact military readiness during a hearing on Trump's order.
“I don’t—” Justice Department attorney Jason C. Lynch said, before the judge interrupted him.
“Because it doesn’t," Reyes said. "Because any common sense rational human being understands that it doesn’t.”
Reyes, who was appointed to the bench by then-President Joe Biden in 2023, also challenged Lynch to find a commissioned military officer who would testify that using preferred pronouns diminished military readiness.
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