Roberts Five Is Once Again Donald Trump’s Partner In Bigotry

Trump voters are, with a big assist from Mitch McConnell, getting exactly what they want:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the Trump administration’s policy of barring most transgender people from serving in the military. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices temporarily allowed the ban to go into effect while cases challenging it move forward.

The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s five conservative members in the majority and its four liberal members in dissent.

The administration had also asked the justices to hear immediate appeals from trial court rulings blocking the policy. The court turned down those requests without comment.

The policy, announced on Twitter by President Trump and refined by the defense secretary at the time, Jim Mattis, generally prohibits people identifying with a gender different from their biological sex from military service. It makes exceptions for several hundred transgender people already serving openly and for those willing to serve “in their biological sex.”

Is this a case where Kennedy made a difference? Hard to say, as he was better on LBGT rights than Roberts, but also went the full Trump in his last term. Either way, a majority of the Supreme Court is a full partner in Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

Wonderful thing to have a 5-4 party-line vote on, glad the fundamental legitimacy of our system is intact, respect and deference to the Georgetown Prep boys deciding who gets to be fully human https://t.co/WzZAAsuK9I

— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) January 22, 2019