Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced Tuesday that he will hold off on implementing a ban of transgender troops ordered by President Donald Trump while the Defense Department and experts study the issue.
Mattis will convene a panel to devise a plan for implementing Trump’s order, which bars the military from accepting new transgender recruits and from paying for sexual reassignment surgeries and medications, but leaves it up to Mattis how to address transgender troops already serving in the military. Trump’s memorandum gives Mattis until February to develop a plan to carry out the order.
“Our focus must always be on what is best for the military’s combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield,” Mattis said in a Tuesday evening statement. “To that end, I will establish a panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president’s direction.”
While the panel studies the issue, the U.S. military’s current policy regarding transgender troops will remain in place.
Trump issued the memorandum directing Mattis to carry out the new policy last week, which came about a month after Trump initially announced the policy in a series of tweets. Trump’s announcement took military leaders by surprise, and drew opposition from members of the Defense Department and Republican lawmakers.
