White House to outline transgender troop ban in coming days
A White House memo gives Pentagon 6 months to fully implement ban
The White House is expected to tell the Pentagon in coming days how to implement a ban on transgender people in the military, according to a memo that says the defence secretary may decide whether to remove service members based on their ability to deploy, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The two-and-a-half-page White House document gives Defence Secretary Jim Mattis six months to fully implement the ban, according to a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the official.
It also directs the Defence Department to deny admittance to transgender individuals and to stop spending on medical treatment regimens for those currently serving, the WSJ reported, citing U.S. officials.
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Mattis is expected to consider "deployability" — meaning the ability to serve in a war zone, participate in exercises or live for months on a ship — as the main legal reason to decide whether to separate service members from the military, the Journal reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy.
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
—@realDonaldTrump....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....
—@realDonaldTrump....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
—@realDonaldTrumpThe surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trump's conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.
Five transgender members of the U.S. military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued Trump earlier this month, saying that the ban was made without consulting senior military commanders. It named as defendants Trump, Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Dunford said in a memo a day after Trump's tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.
The Obama administration, which ended the transgender ban in 2016, allowed currently serving transgender personnel to immediately begin serving openly but set July 1, 2017, as the start of new enlistments by openly transgender people.