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.
Mattis siding with Obama…
SAD!
I wish I could say it is comforting that there is an adult in charge of at least something.
Except, we know how Donnie Two Scoops deals with adults. If they’re not canned, they’re circumvented and neutered.
Shit, Trump’s going to lose this one, too! And he’s Commander in Chief.
Loser.
Civilian control over the military… I’d rather see him resign and force a constitutional crisis than to have him put the brakes on the Nazi-in-Chief most outrageous impulses.
See if he could bring Tillerson and Cohn with him if he quits…
Certainly a huge issue here in a complicated situation. Technically he is a civilian. And slow-walking a stupid order is not a huge break with normal behavior in that town. But it’s disquieting to see even a former general tell the top civilian they’ll be getting back to him about that last order.
And then as honorable as mass resignations of the decency contingent would be, there’s the 25th to consider. Holy Multiple Dilemmas, Batman, this is a devil of a pickle.