President Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, but he appeared to leave open the possibility of allowing some already in uniform to remain. Trump gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authority to decide the matter of openly transgender individuals already serving, and he said that until the Pentagon chief makes that decision, "no action may be taken against" them, per the AP. The Obama administration in June 2016 had changed longstanding policy, declaring that troops could serve openly as transgender individuals. And it set a July 2017 deadline for determining whether transgender people could be allowed to enter the military. Mattis delayed that to Jan. 1, 2018, and Trump has now instructed Mattis to extend it indefinitely.
But on the question of what will happen to those transgender individuals who already are serving openly—estimated to number in the low hundreds—Trump seemed to leave wiggle room for exceptions. A White House official who briefed reporters on the presidential order would not say whether Trump would permit any exceptions. That official said Mattis has been directed to take a number of factors into consideration in determining how to deal with transgender individuals already serving, including "military effectiveness," budgetary concerns, and "unit cohesion." Trump gave Mattis six months to come up with a policy on those currently serving, and he must implement it by March 23, 2018, the official said. (More transgender stories.)
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