The judge considering a challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender individuals from the military engaged in “hostile and egregious misconduct,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged in a complaint Friday.
District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee, questioned a DOJ attorney on his religious views in a manner that “compromised the dignity of the proceedings and demonstrated potential bias,” DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle wrote in a complaint filed with the clerk for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“After a long screed about how she believes President Trump has discriminated against individuals with gender dysphoria (including a claim that he was ‘literally erasing transgender people’), Judge Reyes describes receiving an email suggesting that she develop a relationship with Jesus,” Mizelle said. “She then uses this aside as an excuse to randomly pivot to questioning the DOJ attorney about his religious views.”
Trump 47 DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle files ethics complaint against District Judge Ana C. Reyes. pic.twitter.com/gUt2mLSUfK
— The Article III Project (A3P) (@Article3Project) February 21, 2025
During a hearing this week, Reyes questioned the attorney on what Jesus would say to “telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters?”
“Do you think Jesus would be, ‘Sounds right to me’?” she asked, according to the complaint. “Or do you think Jesus would say, ‘WTF? Of course, let them in’?”
Mizelle requested that “appropriate action be taken to address these violations and to ensure that future proceedings in this court are conducted with the dignity and impartiality the public has a right to expect.”
“At minimum, this matter warrants further investigation to determine whether these incidents represent a pattern of misconduct that requires more significant remedial measures,” he wrote.
Trump’s executive order on “Prioritizing Military Excellence And Readiness” states that high standards for troop readiness are “inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.”
“Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” the executive order states. “A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”
Several transgender military members filed a lawsuit challenging the order on Jan. 28.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Flickr/ Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
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