It’s another day that ends in “y,” which means another Democrat-appointed federal judge is attempting to unilaterally kneecap President Donald Trump’s administration.
On Monday, Christine O’Hearn, a New Jersey-based district court judge, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the U.S. Air Force from “initiating involuntary separation proceedings” for two branch members who proclaim to be transgender. The lawsuit from the service members came in response to a Jan. 27 executive order by Trump and subsequent Pentagon directives to effectively develop the process of removing trans-identifying troops from the armed forces.
In granting the request for a TRO, O’Hearn, a Biden appointee, opined that the plaintiffs “demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that the Orders, at a minimum, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment.” Equally notable, however, is her complaint that the executive branch — which is constitutionally authorized to dictate U.S. military policy — did not provide her (a lower court judge) “any compelling justification whatsoever” for why it’s implementing the president’s directives regarding trans-identifying troops in the service.
“As discussed above, Plaintiffs face severe personal and professional harm absent a preliminary injunction. In contrast, Defendants have not demonstrated any compelling justification whatsoever for immediate implementation of the Orders, particularly since transgender persons have been openly serving in the military for a number of years,” O’Hearn wrote.
The U.S. Senate confirmed O’Hearn in a 53-44 vote on Oct. 19, 2021. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in supporting her nomination.
O’Hearn is the second federal district judge to stymie the president’s military “trans” policy with an arbitrary court order. The first came last week in the form of a preliminary injunction from D.C. District Court Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee and major Democrat donor.
O’Hearn’s activism from the bench hardly makes her an anomaly among other rogue lower court judges on board with greenlighting leftists’ lawfare against Trump — and neither does her affinity for Democrat politics.
Hellbound and Down 