The Justice Department confirmed Monday that the United States Naval Academy would no longer consider race in admissions, according to a court document. 

In a joint filing with Students for Fair Admission, the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit against the academy over a policy that allowed it to consider race during the admissions process. Students for Fair Admission, which sued the academy in October 2023, agreed that the suit was no longer needed due to policy changes implemented by the Trump administration. 

“This Department is committed to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity throughout the federal government,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “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.”

The filing states that the lawsuit is now moot due to the policy change and asks that the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismiss a lower court’s ruling that kept race-based admissions in place. The policy allowed the academy to “consider race or ethnicity as one of many nondeterminative factors” for admission. 

This policy ended after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 27 that said that no one within the military should be given any advantage based on gender or race. 

In compliance with that order, Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Yvette Davids issued a memo in February saying that “at no point during the admissions process (including qualification and acceptance) should race, ethnicity, or sex be a factor for admission.”

The joint filing said that considering race and ethnicity for admissions does not contribute to military cohesiveness, lethality, recruitment, or national security. 

“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 joint filing said. “The Department of Defense has now determined that neither the recruitment and retention of talented officers nor the legitimacy of the U.S. military are positively affected by the service academies’ consideration of race in admissions.”

Students for Fair Admission was the organization behind the landmark case where the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action in higher education was unconstitutional and racially discriminatory.

Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump “may decide to take further action to end Iranian enrichment” as Israel takes out the radical Islamic regime’s nuclear facilities and military leaders.

In a lengthy post on X, the vice president sought to address “crazy stuff on social media” regarding the fighting in the Middle East and the United States’ involvement. The United States is moving the USS Nimitz carrier strike group toward the Middle East while deploying additional tanker aircraft to the region. Israel continues to conduct airstrikes, targeting Iranian military leaders, missile launchers, and nuclear facilities, while Iran rains down missiles on Israeli cities.

As questions swirl around the United States potentially getting directly involved in the conflict, Vance praised Trump for showing “remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.” Vance added, “He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”

A poll released on Monday showed that Trump voters overwhelmingly back the United States taking action against Iran in support of Israel. Vance, however, acknowledged that some of the president’s supporters “are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy.”

“But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue,” he added. “And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

In his social media post, Vance also pointed to Trump’s consistency on opposing Iran’s push for uranium enrichment.

“I’ve seen a lot of confusion over the issue of ‘civilian nuclear power’ and ‘uranium enrichment.’ These are distinct issues,” Vance wrote. “Iran could have civilian nuclear power without enrichment, but Iran rejected that. Meanwhile, they’ve enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose. They’ve been found in violation of their non-proliferation obligations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hardly a rightwing organization.”

“I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use. I’ve yet to see a single good argument for why Iran was justified in violating its non-proliferation obligations. I’ve yet to see a single good pushback against the IAEA’s findings,” he added.

President Trump, who has backed Israel’s strikes on Iran, said early on Tuesday that he’s not interested in a ceasefire between the two enemies. Trump said he wants “a real end, not a ceasefire.”

“So something that will be permanent?” a reporter asked him.

“Yeah, or giving up entirely. That’s okay too,” Trump added. “A complete give-up. That’s possible.”