DefSec Mattis goes against the grain, orders current policy on transgender soldiers to serve to stay intact while Pentagon reviews a new study on “readiness and effectiveness” – PB/TK
Mattis orders Pentagon to allow transgender troops to continue serving, pending study – By Tom Vanden Brook USAToday / Aug 29 2017
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis late Tuesday announced that transgender troops will be allowed to continue serving in the military pending the results of a study by experts.
The announcement follows tweets and an order from President Trump that indicated transgender service members no longer had place in the military, effectively reversing an Obama administration policy. The order also affects the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Coast Guard.
“Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction,” Mattis said in the statement. “In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.”
Mattis’ move buys time for the Pentagon to determine how and if it will allow thousands of transgender troops to continue to serve, whether they will receive medical treatment, or how they will be discharged.
As Defense Secretary, Mattis has emphasized that he has little tolerance for policies that detract from military readiness or the Pentagon’s effectiveness on the battlefield. At the last moment in June, he decided to delay the Pentagon’s planned implementation of plans to accept transgender troops. His reasoning: he demanded more study to determine the effect of recruiting new, transgender troops on the Pentagon’s ability to fight and win wars.
Under the Obama administration, the Pentagon rescinded a longstanding ban on transgender troops from serving. It also outlined how those troops could receive medical treatment, including gender reassignment surgery, if it was deemed medically necessary.
Trump’s surprise order by tweet on July 26 caught the Pentagon by surprise. The tweets said there was no room in the ranks for transgender troops and that the government would no longer pay for their medical treatment.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded by saying that the Pentagon would not change its policy until it was notified officially by the White House.
That notification came on Friday night. It directed Mattis to study the issue and determine how to implement Trump’s direction. It was assailed by advocates for transgender troops who called it discriminatory, and the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against it.
Continue to msn.com article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mattis-orders-pentagon-to-allow-transgender-troops-to-continue-serving-pending-study/ar-AAqX5NJ
