The U.S. Naval Academy has stopped considering race or ethnicity in its admissions, in response to a Trump administration executive order, the academy told a federal appeals court on Monday. As a result, a lawsuit seeking to stop its use of race-conscious admissions is moot, the academy said in court papers, and should be dismissed.

The change to its admissions policy is a stark turnaround for the academy, which had argued for years that having a racially and ethnically diverse fighting force, and an officer corps that mirrored that diversity, was essential to strong troop morale and national security.

But the Naval Academy said that after reviewing the record in the court case, the government had found that consideration of race and ethnicity “does not promote military cohesiveness, lethality, recruitment, retention or legitimacy; national security; or any other governmental interest,” according to its joint motion with Students for Fair Admissions, which had challenged the academy’s admissions policy in court.

The week after he took office, President Trump signed an executive order, “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” which called for, among other things, the elimination of race-based and sex-based discrimination within the military. And Pete Hegseth, the incoming secretary of defense, sent an early note on official letterhead that said, “DoD ≠ DEI*.”

In response to those directives, the Naval Academy formally changed its admissions policy in February, according to court papers.

Mr. Hegseth affirmed the new “merit-based” policy in a May 9, 2025, memorandum, effective for the 2026 admission cycle, the court papers say.

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