Nicolas Talbott v. United States

── Nicolas Talbott v. United States ── Court: Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Date: June 01, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued January 22, 2026 Decided June 1, 2026 No. 25-5087 NICHOLAS TALBOTT, ET AL., PLAINTIFF-APPELLEES v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-00240) Abhishek Kambli, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice argued the cause for Appellants. With him on the briefs were Brett A. Shumate, Yaakov M. Roth, Michael S. Raab, Ashley C. Honold, and Amanda L. Mundell. Shannon Minter, argued the cause for Appellees. With him on the brief were Christopher F. Stroll, Jennifer Levi, Michael Haley, Joseph J. Wardenski, and Sara E. Kropf. William J. Olson, Jeremiah L. Morgan, Michael Boos, Joseph W. Miller, J. Mark Brewer, Patrick M. McSweeney, and Rick Boyer were on the brief for amicus curiae Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn (USA-Ret.), America’s Future, Citizens United, Public Advocate of the United States, Public Advocate  2 Foundation, U.S. Constitutional Rights Legal Defense Fund, and Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund in support of Defendants-Appellants. Robert S. Chang, Shaleen Shanbhag, Rachel Croskery- Roberts, and Beatrice A. Tice were on the brief for amicus curiae Japanese American Citizens League, The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, and Additional Race Centers in support of Plaintiff-Appellees. Charity R. Clark, Attorney General of Vermont, Office of the Attorney General for Vermont, Jonathan T. Rose, Solicitor General of Vermont, Ryan P. Kane, Deputy Solicitor General of Vermont, Justin G. Sherman and Samuel Stratton, Assistant Attorneys General of Vermont; and Nicholas W. Brown, Attorney General of Washington, Office of the Attorney General of Washington, Colleen Melody, Civil Rights Division Chief, Cassandra Baker, Assistant Attorney General of Washington were on the brief for amicus curiae States Of Vermont, Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Rhode Island in support of Plaintiff-Appellees. Before: WILKINS and WALKER, Circuit Judges, and ROGERS, Senior Circuit Judge. Opinion announcing the judgment of the Court filed by Circuit Judge WILKINS. Opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part filed by Senior Circuit Judge ROGERS. Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge WALKER.  3 WILKINS, Circuit Judge: In the beginning days of his second term in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order proclaiming that persons “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.” Exec. Order No. 14183, 90 Fed. Reg. 8757 § 1 (Jan. 27, 2025). The President, and later Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (now redesignated as Secretary of War), also declared that persons afflicted with gender dysphoria are unfit for military service because, among other things, the character of such persons (in the President’s and Secretary’s words) is “inconsistent” with the “high standards . . . [of] honesty, humility, . . . and integrity.” DEP’T OF DEF., ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE ON PRIORITIZING MIL. EXCELLENCE AND READINESS (2025) (hereinafter “Hegseth Policy”); see also J.A. 50. In this litigation, the government has not attempted to defend or provide any factual basis for these disparaging characterizations of American citizens. Indeed, the government has not contested that the Plaintiff-Appellees who are currently serving (and who have collectively earned more than 80 commendations) have served honorably an