A federal judge in Washington ordered Friday that a halt to President Trump's transgender troop ban remain in place pending a trial, saying that the government must prove its order "was sincerely motivated by compelling interests, rather than by prejudice or stereotype."

Why it matters: In addition to keeping its injunction in place, the judge overseeing the case said that transgender people represent a "protected class" and, as such, that President Trump's ban will have to meet the legal standard known as "strict scrutiny."

"Therefore, any attempt to exclude them from military service will be looked at with the highest level of care, " Judge Marsha J. Pechman wrote in the order, which was posted online by the Washington Blade. "This means that before Defendants can implement the Ban, they must show that it was sincerely motivated by compelling interests, rather than by prejudice or stereotype, and that it is narrowly tailored to achieve those interests. "

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Updated 23 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 4:30 p.m. ET: 26,709,458 — Total deaths: 876,400 — Total recoveries: 17,778,605Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 4:30 p.m. ET: 6,232,889 — Total deaths: 188,252 — Total recoveries: 2,283,454 — Total tests: 81,293,103Map.
  3. Politics: How to prepare for an election facing unprecedented threats.
  4. World: Pope to take first trip since coronavirus lockdown — Pandemic is erasing a decade of global progress in child mortality rates — China calls for U.S. visitors to show negative COVID-19 tests.
  5. Sports: 77 of 130 major college football teams to play this season.
  6. World: India surpasses 4 million coronavirus cases.
Mike Allen, author of AM
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Virus-era voting

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

With rare, if not unprecedented, agreement, President Trump, Joe Biden, intelligence officials and Big Tech CEOs are all warning of threats to accurate and trusted vote counts before, on and after election day. 

American elections face a triple threat in 2020: 

  • Foreign governmentsespecially Russia, China and Iran — are actively spreading misinformation via social platforms.

Trump slams Fox News reporter who confirmed parts of Atlantic story

President Trump lashed out at Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin, who confirmed parts of a story in The Atlantic that revealed, based on anonymous sources, that the president in 2018 called American service members buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France "losers."

What they're saying: "All refuted by many witnesses. Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. @FoxNews is gone!" Trump tweeted late Friday night.