Transgender ban:
Defense secretary plans study before acting on executive order.
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis kicked President Trump’s proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military down the road, announcing that transgender service members will continue to be allowed to serve pending the results of a study.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mattis said that he was establishing a panel of experts, serving within the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, whose task will be to “provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president’s direction.”
Trump announced last month in a series of tweets that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve in the military. The Twitter messages took the Pentagon by surprise, and since then, Defense Department officials have been trying to cobble together a policy that takes into account their desire to allow currently serving transgender people to remain, while at the same time following the dictates of a commander in chief who, by most accounts, had not put a lot of study into the ramifications of his instructions.
Last week, Trump signed the directive precluding transgender individuals from serving, but gave Mattis wide discretion in determining whether those already in the armed forces can continue to serve. By putting the onus on Mattis, the president appeared to open the door to allowing at least some transgender service members to remain in the military, contrary to his initial tweet that all would be disallowed.
Mattis’ statement on Tuesday appeared to open that door further.
“Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of homeland security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction,” Mattis said in his statement. “In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.” He said he will issue “interim guidance to the force concerning the president’s direction, including any necessary interim adjustments to procedures, to ensure the continued combat readiness of the force until our final policy on this subject is issued.”
Mattis’ announcement came as more than 140 House Democrats sent a letter to Trump calling on him to reconsider his transgender ban. The letter, released Tuesday, argued that the military should not discriminate, and said that enforcing the ban could lead to the loss of jobs for active-duty service members who have served honorably.
Military officials have said privately that they do not see how they can turn back the clock on allowing transgender people to serve without opening the Defense Department up to lawsuits.