Five transgender US Armed Forces members ask judge for shield from ban

(Reuters) - Five transgender U.S. military members asked a judge on Monday to block actions against them under President Donald Trump's transgender ban, including administrative leave and exclusion from training exercises.

The motion in Washington federal court was filed as the Trump administration is asking U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes to undo her order last week blocking enforcement of the ban nationwide.

Reyes put that order on hold on Friday while she considers the government's motion, but said service members could ask for emergency orders if they faced specific, immediate harm from the ban.

The five service members said they would face "immediate, serious, and irreparable harm" without a new temporary restraining order.

Three said they had been placed on administrative leave, making it "impossible to meet goals required for advancement and promotion, and irreparably harms the trust placed in them by others." Another plaintiff is being excluded from training with other cadets, and a fifth is being prevented from graduating from officer candidate school, according to the motion.

In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge in New Jersey blocked the military on Monday from expelling two transgender members, though she did not block its enforcement against anyone else.

The White House and the Department of Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reyes, who was appointed by Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, blocked the ban on March 18, finding that it likely violated the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on sex discrimination. She ruled that "transgender persons can have the warrior ethos, physical and mental health, selflessness, honor, integrity, and discipline to ensure military excellence."

Trump, a Republican, said in his order that "adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life."

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)