A federal judge who recently halted a presidential executive order that would have prevented transgender individuals from serving in the military has a notable background in Democratic Party activism, including volunteer work for Joe Biden and substantial donations to Democratic campaigns.

U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, appointed by Biden and the first openly gay federal judge in Washington D.C., disclosed in her Senate confirmation questionnaire that she provided “limited legal assistance regarding potential election law issues” during Biden’s 2020 campaign. Since 2008, Reyes has contributed over $38,000 to Democratic causes, according to FEC records. Her donations have supported entities like ActBlue, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff’s campaign, and she has made maximum allowable contributions to Biden’s presidential campaign.

Reyes has also been a consistent donor to Defeat By Tweet, a super PAC aligned with Democratic interests that supports the Justice Fund. This fund collects donations for liberal groups in swing states each time the former President Donald Trump tweeted, as described by Influence Watch. Although currently inactive, Defeat By Tweet’s website mentions that it is redirecting its resources to Black Church PAC, a group that advocates for defunding the police and has received significant support from Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.

Born in Uruguay and immigrating to the U.S. in her early childhood, Reyes has actively represented illegal immigrants as a lawyer. In her acceptance speech for the 2017 Woman’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Woman Lawyer of the Year award, she expressed her privilege in representing asylum seekers and acknowledged her collaboration with the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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During the same speech, Reyes mentioned that she deferred law school for a year to work with the Feminist Majority Foundation, an organization committed to women’s equality, reproductive health, and non-violence. She has served on the board of this foundation since 2014, although she is not currently listed on their website. The foundation has been vocal about considering abortion a necessity and has opposed legislation that restricts transgender participation in women’s sports.

Reyes also participated in a 2021 panel discussion titled “Did You Really Just Say That? Recognizing and Managing Microaggressions,” hosted by Centerforce as part of a series addressing challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Despite her progressive leanings, Reyes has occasionally sided with Trump. For instance, she criticized Biden’s Justice Department when two employees failed to appear in court for depositions concerning the Republican-led impeachment efforts against Biden, as reported by NBC News. She also condemned the leak of Trump’s tax returns by a former IRS consultant as an attack on constitutional democracy and criticized the lawyers of eight inspectors general dismissed by Trump for not resolving their issues before approaching the court.

Most recently, Reyes issued a preliminary injunction against a Trump executive order that sought to update the Defense Department’s guidance on “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to rescind any guidance inconsistent with military readiness. In her 79-page ruling, Reyes extensively questioned the Trump administration’s intentions with the order, querying whether it constituted a “transgender ban” and if the administration viewed being transgender as an “ideology.” She cited Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “Hamilton” in her justification to block the ban, noting the historical significance of the Nineteenth Amendment which granted women the right to vote and by extension, the rights transgender persons protect through their service.