Trump Executive Order Targets Transgender Service Members
The order reverses a 2021 Biden administration directive allowing transgender troops to serve openly—which itself had overturned an earlier ban from the first Trump administration.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” which directs the secretary of defense to update Pentagon guidelines on the medical standards required for military service.
The order targets transgender service members in particular by asserting that a “false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and that “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
Within 60 days of the president’s order, the secretary of defense “shall update” Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 6130.03 Volumes 1 and 2, which set medical standards for military service over appointment, enlistment, induction, and retention, “to reflect the purpose and policy of this Order.” Within 30 days, the secretary must “identify all additional steps and issue guidance necessary to fully implement this order” and submit a progress report to the president.
This latest order follows Trump’s Jan. 20 rescission of Executive Order 14004, called “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform,” which was a 2021 Biden administration order that allowed transgender members of the military to serve openly. Executive Order 14004 itself reversed an earlier ban from the first Trump administration.
Read the executive order here or below:
