Lower courts had blocked the policy, saying it was not supported by evidence and violated equal protection principles.

He wants the high court to allow the ban to take effect while lawsuits challenging the ban proceed in the lower courts.

President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed. The high court filing follows a brief order from a federal appeals court that kept in place a court order blocking the policy nationwide.