Trump bans transgender people from serving in U. S. military

Morning tweets take Pentagon by surprise

President Trump said Wednesday that the U. S. military will not accept transgender troops into its ranks or allow them to serve in any capacity, reversing a policy that began under the Obama administration – and triggering intense criticism from lawmakers and civil libertarians.

In a series of morning tweets, Trump said that, after consulting "with my generals and military experts," the U. S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U. S. Military."

The U. S. military, he said, "must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

Democrats disagreed. Rep. Adam Smith, D- Wash., ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, called Trump's announcement "an unwarranted and disgraceful attack on men and women who have been bravely serving their country."

It’s unclear how Trump's tweets will affect the estimated 6,000 transgender troops who are already in the military. Under the policy announced in July 2016, those troops were allowed to serve openly. Prior to that, the military discharged them for medical reasons.

It's also unclear whether a series of tweets constitute a presidential directive, and whether Trump must sign documents to make the new policy effective.

The tweets took the Pentagon by surprise. It issued a statement saying only that it would work with the White House "to address the new guidance" provided by the president.

Brad Carson, the former chief of Pentagon personnel issues and an architect of the policy, said Trump's sudden announcement caught the Pentagon "flat- footed," and he predicted the renewed ban will be challenged in court.

"This will be devastating to those service members, but it will also hurt national security, as we have transgender people in many mission- critical occupations," Carson told USA TODAY.

Joshua Block, a lead attorney on the issue with the ACLU, said the group most certainly will mount a legal challenge.

But he noted that Pentagon regulations allowing transgender troops to serve openly remain in effect.

Meanwhile, former Obama administration officials, prominent Democrats and civil rights advocates condemned Trump's announcement.

Ashton Carter, who instituted the policy that would allow transgender troops to serve as President Obama's defense secretary, said the only thing that matters in choosing service members is that they are qualified.