A divided US Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military personnel to take effect while litigation plays out, putting thousands of troops at risk of dismissal.

The ruling — which the court’s three liberal justices opposed — is a significant victory for Trump, who has made rolling back transgender rights a major part of his second term in office, and has railed against judges who blocked parts of his agenda.

Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation — which filed the lawsuit that had resulted in a lower court temporarily blocking the implementation of the ban — slammed the Supreme Court’s decision.

The ruling “is a devastating blow to transgender servicemembers who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defense,” the organizations said in a statement .

“Transgender individuals meet the same standards and demonstrate the same values as all who serve. We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down,” they said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hailed the ruling as “another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court,” saying in a post on X that Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth “are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality — not DEI or woke gender ideology.”

Hegseth meanwhile responded to the news with a post on his personal X account that said: “No More Trans @ DoD.”

In a January 27 executive order, Trump stated that “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”

Shifting policies

The Pentagon followed that up with a memo issued in late February stating that it would remove transgender troops from the military unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis, as well as prevent transgender people from joining.

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the ban to take effect means thousands of currently serving troops could be removed from the ranks.

The restrictions in the Pentagon memo are aimed at those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria — of whom there were 4,240 serving in the military as of late last year, according to a senior defense official — as well as those who have a history of the condition or exhibit symptoms of it.

Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly, while Trump has sought to keep them out of the ranks.

The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama’s second term as president.

Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.

But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely.

Trump’s restrictions on transgender military service — which underwent changes in response to various legal challenges — eventually came into force in April 2019 following a protracted legal battle that went all the way to the nation’s top court.

His Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, but Trump was reelected last year after making clear he would again seek to target transgender rights.

Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.

AFP

A small plane has crashed into a backyard of a residential neighbourhood in southern California, killing two people onboard and damaging homes, local authorities said.

The Ventura County Fire Department said firefighters received reports Saturday afternoon of a single-engine aircraft that had crashed into two houses in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.

Police and the medical examiner’s office “verified there were two passengers in the aircraft, both of whom were fatally injured in the accident,” the county fire department wrote on X.

The two homes were occupied at the time of the crash, but no injuries to residents were reported, the fire department said.

Photo and video images posted by the department showed firefighters on top of a house with holes in the roof, a fence and brick wall between residences knocked down, and the tops of trees sheared off.

The Simi Valley Police Department said officers had located the plane “in the backyard of a residence.”

Police told CBS News that the pilot, a passenger, and a dog were aboard when the plane crashed at around 2:00 pm.

The Federal Aviation Administration said, according to CBS, that the plane was a Van’s RV-10, which had taken off from William J. Fox Airfield in Los Angeles County and was heading to Camarillo Airport in neighbouring Ventura County.

In January, a Van’s RV-10, a small plane with four seats, crashed into a commercial building near Fullerton Municipal Airport southeast of Los Angeles, killing at least two people and injuring 18 others.

AFP

A former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has launched a critique of Donald Trump’s administration, accusing the former president and his allies of executing a decades-old conservative plan to reshape America through fear, division, and unchecked power.

Speaking on Wednesday in San Francisco at an event organized by Emerge; a political group dedicated to training Democratic women for public office, Harris delivered her first major address since her party’s defeat in the November election.

“What we are, in fact, witnessing is a high velocity event, where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making,” Harris told the audience.

She argued that the chaotic and aggressive start to Trump’s presidency is not random but rather a calculated effort to serve a narrow group of elites.

“An agenda to slash public education. An agenda to shrink government and then privatize its services. All while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest,” she said.

Harris accused Trump’s administration of fostering a dangerous political climate.

She said, “A narrow, self-serving vision of America where they punish truth-tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone to fend for themselves.”

Since taking office, Trump’s presidency has been defined by a flurry of executive orders, touching on immigration, foreign aid, and even everyday regulations such as water pressure in showerheads.

While his supporters have welcomed the rapid changes, critics warn the administration is bypassing democratic norms and institutions.

Recent opinion polls reflect growing public unease with Trump’s policies, particularly his shifting stance on tariffs and international trade, which have caused economic uncertainty.

Harris, who has largely kept a low profile since leaving Washington in January, used the platform to warn about the administration’s efforts to intimidate opposition voices.

“President Trump, his administration, and their allies are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious. They are counting on the notion that, if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others,” she said.

But she also struck a hopeful tone, saying resistance is growing across the country.

“Fear isn’t the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious. The courage of all these Americans inspires me,” Harris told the crowd.

Though she has yet to confirm any future political ambitions, Harris is widely believed to be considering a run for governor of California in 2026 or even a White House bid in 2028.

Her forceful speech suggests she may be preparing to return to frontline politics, and positioning herself as a leading voice in the fight against Trump-era conservatism.