A U.S. appeals court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked its ban on transgender military service members – a near-term blow as the administration signals it may take the case to the Supreme Court. The three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s request for an administrative stay, which would have allowed it to...

Lt. Gen. Daniel “Razin” Caine, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. top military officer, side-stepped questions from Senate Democrats about his view on the recent Signal leak controversy roiling the Trump administration, but he did say the “element of surprise” should be safeguarded as a result of the incident.  Democrats, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, repeatedly asked Caine about...