House Democrats call on Trump, Hegseth to reverse trans military ban
A group of House Democrats is urging President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to halt enforcement of a ban on transgender service members.
In a Jan. 27 executive order, Trump barred transgender people from serving openly in the military, claiming that allowing trans individuals to serve in the armed forces threatens its readiness and undermines unit cohesion. A 2016 RAND Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon found that allowing trans people to serve had no negative impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness or readiness.
Hegseth moved to implement Trump’s order in a Feb. 7 memo, directing military leaders to pause accepting recruits with histories of gender dysphoria and suspend gender-affirming care for current transgender service members.
Hegseth, who has previously opposed allowing trans Americans to serve, wrote in an earlier memo that it is impossible for people to change their sex. Trump and other members of his administration have similarly referred to gender identity as a “false concept” and declared the government will recognize only two sexes, male and female.
In a Thursday letter to Hegseth, 41 House Democrats called on him to rescind his Feb. 7 memo and urged Trump to reverse his executive order.
“Banning transgender individuals from serving in the military, including discharging those currently in uniform, would be detrimental to our military readiness and retention,” wrote the Democrats, led by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus’s Transgender Equality Task Force.
Jacobs, whose brother is trans, introduced legislation in January meant to thwart another ban on transgender military service under Trump, who during his first term announced he was barring trans people from the military through a series of social media posts.
“Deeming a fully qualified service member as unfit for service simply because of their identity is in opposition to the values of a meritocratic all-volunteer force that depends on the willingness of capable patriots,” House Democrats wrote Thursday. “This policy will further alienate the current military-age generation, of which a far larger portion openly identify as LGBTQ+ — people who the military needs to volunteer to be our future warfighters.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) similarly called for Trump to rescind his executive order on Thursday.
“A military that respects and supports all of its members is fully capable of being lethal and winning wars,” Fetterman said in a video on the social platform X.
Two federal lawsuits argue Trump’s order is unconstitutional. The lead plaintiff in one of the cases, Emily Shilling, is a naval aviator and test pilot with nearly two decades of experience.
Shilling is also the president of SPARTA Pride, an advocacy group for transgender service members that estimates between 15,000 and 25,000 transgender troops are serving. Trump’s plan to discharge them could cost the government billions, Shilling has estimated.
The Palm Center, a think tank focused on gender, sexuality and the military, estimated in 2017 that Trump’s original ban would cost nearly $1 billion, far more than the roughly $15 million the Pentagon said it spent between 2016 and 2021 on treatment for gender dysphoria.
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