Transgender ban splits vets in Congress

Reassignment surgery debate may hold up spending bill

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s decision to ban transgender service in the armed forces drove a wedge through military veterans in Congress, with one camp standing squarely behind the commander in chief and the other decrying his order as an ugly attack on dedicated troops.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs and partial use of her right arm during the Iraq war, called Trump’s announcement discriminatory.

“When my Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq, I didn’t care if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender or anything else,” she said. “All that mattered was they didn’t leave me behind.”

Duckworth said if a person’s willing to risk their life as a member of the armed forces “and you can do the job, you should be able to serve — no matter your gender identity, sexual orientation or race.”

But Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., applauded Trump for reversing an Obama administration directive issued in 2016 that allowed transgender service members to serve openly in the armed forces.

Despite Trump’s announcement, transgender individuals still will be allowed to serve until Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has received Trump’s direction to change the policy and figured out how to implement it, the nation’s top military officer said Thursday.