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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Transgender military service

United States v. Commander Emily Shilling

Granted
No. 24A1030Stay applicationFiled by the federal governmentPresented to Justice KaganFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on May 6, 2025: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and Justice Jackson would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 12 days after filing

What's being asked

The federal government asks the Supreme Court to temporarily pause a March 27 injunction concerning its 2025 military policy. Military service members and Gender Justice League challenge the policy; the government says it is lawful.

What the Court did

The Court put the March 27 injunction on hold (stayed it) and granted (approved) the federal government's request. The pause covers the Ninth Circuit appeal and any timely request for Supreme Court review; it does not decide the underlying dispute. The Court did not publish a full vote; Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have refused the request.

  • Dissented
  • Vote not published
Dissenting · 3recorded against the Court's order
  1. Sotomayorwould deny
  2. Kaganwould deny
  3. Jacksonwould deny
Vote not published · 6the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Thomas
  3. Alito
  4. Gorsuch
  5. Kavanaugh
  6. Barrett
The order records the positions of 3 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Half of 82 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response came 10 to 26 days after filing, and the median was 17 days; this one was ruled on 12 days after filing.

What it means

This temporary emergency order does not decide who wins the underlying dispute. The Ninth Circuit appeal continues; no related Supreme Court case on the main dispute is listed, and no argument is set.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 24A1030. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026