Joe Biden is ready to issue an action order to reverse the Pentagon’s policy that largely prevents transgender people from joining the U.S. military, dumping a ban ordered by Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office, said someone who received information about the decision.
Biden is widely expected to reverse Trump’s policy in his early days in office. The White House could announce the move as early as Monday, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The move is backed by Biden’s new defense secretary, retired army Gen Lloyd Austin, who spoke of the need for reversal at his Senate hearing last week.
“I support the president’s plan or plan to lift the ban,” Austin said. “If you are eligible and you are equipped to serve and you can meet the standards maintenance, you should be allowed to service. “
The decision comes as Biden intends to turn his attention to equality issues that he believes will continue to overshadow almost every aspect of American life. Before it began, Biden’s transition team circulated a memo from Ron Klain, now chief of White House staff, who outlined a plan to use Biden’s first full week as president. “To promote equality and support colorful and other inadequate communities”.
The move to reverse the transgender ban is also the latest example of Biden using executive authority to dismantle Trump’s legacy. Early actions include orders to ban travelers from a number of predominantly Muslim countries, stop the construction of the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and launch a campaign to co-opt promote race equality.
Biden also planned to hold a ceremonial ceremony Monday for Austin, who became the country ‘s first black defense secretary.
It was unclear how quickly the Pentagon could implement a new policy. Until a few years ago, members of the service could have been released for transgenderism, but that changed during the Obama administration. In 2016, defense secretary Ash Carter announced that already transgender people would be allowed to attend openly. The military set July 1, 2017 as the date when transgender people would be allowed to register.
After Trump took office, however, his administration delayed the filing date and called for further investigation to see if transgender individuals would be allowed to service to influence military willingness or effectiveness.
A few weeks later, Trump surprisingly arrested armed leaders, tweeting that the government could not allow or allow transgender people to be “in any position”.
“Our military needs to focus on decisive and horrific impact and we cannot afford to be overwhelmed by the horrific medical costs and turmoil associated with transgenderism in the military,” he wrote.
It took almost two years, but after a long and complicated legal battle and further reviews, the defense department in April 2019 agreed to the new policy that did not ban out but ban soldiers and soldiers military from moving to another and necessary gender. mostly for being a gender of birth.
As of 2019, an estimated 14,700 soldiers are on active duty and in the Reserves as transgender, but not all are seeking treatment. As of July 2016, more than 1,500 service members have been diagnosed with sexual dysphoria. As of February 1, 2019, there were 1,071 attendees. According to the Pentagon, the department spent approximately $ 8m on transgender care between 2016 and 2019. The military’s annual health care budget amounts to $ 50bn.
The four heads of service told Congress in 2018 that they did not see any control, confidence or unit willingness problems with transgender soldiers. But they also acknowledged that some commanders spent a lot of time with transgender people working through medical requirements and other transition issues.