Joint Chiefs Chair Says No Changes To Military’s Transgender Policy Yet

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, while testifying before during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense department's budget. (A... Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, while testifying before during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense department's budget. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) MORE LESS
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The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military on Thursday said no changes will be made to the policy allowing transgender individuals to serve until President Donald Trump offers further direction.

In a memo to the the joint chiefs, commanders and senior enlisted advisers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military’s policy on transgender individuals will not change until Trump’s announced ban travels through the legally mandated chain of command.

“There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s guidance has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance,” Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote. “In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect.”

Trump on Wednesday announced in a series of tweets that the U.S. government “will not accept or allow” transgender individuals to serve in the military “in any capacity.”

Pressed for details on what Trump’s announcement meant for transgender individuals currently serving or deployed, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would not say whether they would be thrown out.

Asked whether the administration should have figured that out before Trump announced the policy, Sanders said Trump made the decision a day before announcing it and “immediately informed” Defense Secretary James Mattis and “the rest of the national security team.”

“I think sometimes you have to make decisions and once he made a decision, he didn’t feel it was necessary to hold that decision,” she said.

She then threatened to end the briefing early if reporters kept asking questions about the major policy change.

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Notable Replies

  1. Trump doesn’t care if the military implements the policy or not. He just wants his base to think that is what the policy is. It’s yet another con.

  2. “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s guidance has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance,” Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote. “In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect.”

    Rump and the regime can go pound sand. Nothing’s changed.

    As I thought, Rump’s tweets came from Bannon / Pence who realize that they’ve lost the majority of the country’s support and are looking to cement their stronghold in their base. Just their base. But pissing off the military is a very bad idea. Which this regime is full of.

  3. “In order to boost that funding, public funding of surgeries for transgender service members would be removed from a defense spending bill that would fulfill the president’s promises to increase military spending and construct that wall. Conservative Republicans and national defense “hawks” had been focusing on the costs of surgeries as the House tinkered with the bill, and Trump made his decision in order to make sure the bill would move forward, Politico reported, citing White House and congressional sources.”

  4. So much for being the “Commander in Chief”. Even the heads of the Boy Scouts of America ignored him.

  5. Just the twitter equivalent of one of his stupid executive orders which creates publicity but no real action. Would be surprised if there is follow-through since there’s been backlash ---- but as he’s obviously flailing around, venting on whomever he can, who knows for sure…

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