The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the use of racial preferences in admissions at the U.S. Naval Academy, saying that the practice has already been eliminated.
In a motion filed on behalf of both parties, the DOJ said the lawsuit is moot because race and ethnicity “are no longer considered in any way at any point” during the academy’s admissions process. The department emphasized that these changes “are intended to be permanent.”
The original lawsuit was filed in 2023 by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), shortly after the advocacy group secured a landmark victory in the U.S. Supreme Court that effectively ended so-called “race-conscious” admissions at both public and private universities.
In that decision, the high court explicitly exempted the nation’s military academies from the same constitutional standards applied to civilian institutions, with Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledging that they may have “potentially distinct interests” in maintaining a racially diverse officer corps.
The dispute proceeded to trial in September 2024, during which SFFA argued that the academy’s admission practices were not narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. A federal judge in Maryland ultimately ruled in favor of the academy, citing “military judgments” and concluding that the use of race in admissions served a “compelling interest in national security” by “improving the Navy and Marine Corps’ unit cohesion and lethality, recruitment and retention, and domestic and international legitimacy.”
SFFA appealed the decision to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In Monday’s joint filing, the DOJ asked the Fourth Circuit to vacate the lower court’s ruling, citing a new determination by the Department of Defense that race-conscious admissions at the Naval Academy “do not support any valid military interest.”
“It is the military judgment of the Department of Defense that recruiting and promoting individuals based on merit alone, and not based on their immutable characteristics, improves unit cohesion and performance,” the DOJ said.
The policy shift stems from directives issued by President Donald Trump, whose administration is committed to dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across all branches of the U.S. military as part of a broader effort to make sure the armed forces focus on their core mission of preparing for and winning wars.
To implement the president’s vision, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered his department to eliminate DEI initiatives and offices, including ceasing the practice of considering race or sex when admitting cadets to military academies.
“We are proud to partner with the Department of Defense to permanently end race-based admissions at the United States Naval Academy and ensure that admission to this prestigious institution is based exclusively on merit,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the motion.
Edward Blum, president of SFFA, said in an emailed statement that the development has “enormous significance” to military readiness.
“We applaud this extraordinary accomplishment by the President and the Department of Defense, which restores the colorblind legal covenant that binds together our military institutions,” he told The Epoch Times.
SFFA’s lawsuits against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy are still pending. Both institutions have informed the courts that they, too, no longer consider race in admissions.
“It is our hope that the U.S. Military and Air Force Academies will pursue the same legal outcome,” Blum said.
