US DOJ's complaint against judge in transgender military ban case gets tossed

25/11/2025 12:19

A rare judicial misconduct complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that accused a judge of bias in her handling of a challenge to President Donald Trump's ban on transgender troops has been dismissed.



Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan in a September 29 decision made public on Monday said judicial misconduct proceedings were the wrong venue to address the Justice Department's concerns about U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, noting that it could have sought to have her recused instead.



"A misconduct proceeding is not meant to function in that way — i.e., as an alternate means by which a party in a pending case could bring about the judge's recusal," Srinivasan wrote.



His decision did not identify the judge by name, but it quoted from a complaint the Justice Department had previously made public that it filed against Reyes, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.



The judicial misconduct complaint is one of two the department has filed against judges as conflicts escalated between the Republican president and a judicial branch that has frequently stymied Trump's agenda.



A top Justice Department official, Todd Blanche, at an event this month described the situation as a "war" as he complained about "rogue activist judges" who have blocked Trump's initiatives.