Lesbian Judge Might Make Pete Hegseth Testify Under Oath About Trans Military Ban
Lawyers for the Department of Justice had asked the judge to just focus on the policy, not so much about what administration officials have said.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes rejected attempts earlier this week by lawyers with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to have her ignore transphobic comments made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Reyes, the first out lesbian district judge in D.C., is overseeing the case against the Trump administration’s trans military ban, Talbott v. USA.
The administration has argued that the ban was put in place to protect military readiness, and not over discrimination, while those suing say it’s designed to target trans people because of their identity.
DOJ lawyers had asked Reyes to focus only on the policy and not on Hegseth or others’ words.
“That’s not the case for an animus finding. We know that,” she said.
Reyes ordered the Secretary of Defense to answer 10 written questions from the lawyers representing the trans service members in the case. She added that if the answers were not sufficient for her, she’d depose Hegseth.
“If they give questions and the responses are a bunch of non-answers, totally fine, but then we’re going to get back into deposition world,” Reyes said, according to The Advocate. “Now, if they give questions and he gives actual responses, then I won’t allow a deposition.”
“I am very aware that he is the secretary of defense and has a lot of constraints on his time, but he has time to tweet, and he has time to put out videos, and he has time to speak to the generals,” the judge said, The Advocate reported.
Reyes had previously found that the anti-trans ban appeared to be unconstitutionally discriminatory.
The judge brought up Hegseth’s recent use of a slur against trans people during a speech to military service members.
Related: Pete Hegseth Uses Transphobic Slur — Yet Again — in Official Speech to Troops
“I think one of the things he said was, ‘No tr***ies,’” Reyes said. “I understand tra**y to be a derisive term for trans individuals.”
She argued that these comments and others are part of the discovery part of the case because Hegseth is helping put the policy in place.
Shannon Minter, legal director at NCLR and the attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Advocate, “We appreciate her attention to this case and her effort to move it expeditiously toward trial.”
Trial proceedings are scheduled to start in January 2027.
