FORT BELVOIR, Va. — An Army appeals court questioned on Thursday whether a military judge exceeded his authority in ordering the suspect in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, to remove his beard or be forcibly shaved.

Judges on the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Virginia also delved into a claim by Major Nidal Hasan’s lawyers that the military judge who issued the order is biased and should be replaced. The American-born Muslim psychiatristsays he grew his beard for religious reasons.