Wilkins v. Hegseth, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (February 18, 2026)

This ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit restores the military’s policy barring people living with HIV from enlisting, reversing an earlier decision that had invalidated the ban.

A three-judge panel rejected a 2024 district court finding that Department of Defense and Army enlistment rules violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by excluding all prospective service members with HIV. Emphasizing judicial deference to military judgment, the appellate court determined that the armed forces may lawfully rely on medical standards that automatically disqualify people living with HIV, including those whose treatment has suppressed the virus and who pose no risk to their health or to others.

While the appeal was underway, the Fourth Circuit had already allowed the ban to go back into effect through a December 2025 stay of the lower court’s order. Prior to that, from August 2024 until the stay, the military admitted qualified recruits with well-managed HIV, demonstrating their ability to serve successfully. This opinion dismisses that experience and reestablishes a policy rooted in outdated assumptions rather than current medical evidence.