President Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to a federal appeals court ruling (2-1) which found the Trump administration policy to ban transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military unconstitutional.
As seen below, Hegseth responded to Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin’s post about the ruling, writing, “See you at SCOTUS.”
[NOTE: Judge Roger Wilkins, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit during the Obama administration, wrote the majority opinion which said: “The Hegseth policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus, and for those reasons the Policy violates Plaintiff-Appellees’ constitutional right to equal protection of the law.”]
See you at SCOTUS. https://t.co/BhLprXz5Im
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) June 1, 2026
According to AP reporting, the Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to start enforcing the ban last year. The panel’s new ruling “would keep the military from kicking out current service members named in the lawsuit, but wouldn’t allow new transgender recruits to join.”
Judge Justin Walker, who was nominated by Trump and was the dissenting vote, wrote: “We have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks. The Constitution assigns that authority to Congress and the Commander in Chief.”
MAGA-aligned U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), a former Navy SEAL, replied to Hegseth: “This is absolutely absurd. These judges are out of control and seem to not understand the concept of Co-Equal Branches of Government.”
Van Orden’s colleague, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI), replied to Van Orden: “Since when has the House of Representatives pretended it was co-equal under Speaker Mike Johnson? You guys are a bunch of toadies for Trump. I think it’s time for you to find another job.”
Since when has the House of Representatives pretended it was co-equal under Speaker Mike Johnson? You guys are a bunch of toadies’s for Trump. I think it’s time for you to find another job.
— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) June 1, 2026