US Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis announced last night that he is putting a temporary halt on the implementation of President Trump’s ban on transgender people on active military duty, justifying his new plan with a proposed establishment of a panel of experts who will provide advice and recommendations on how to carry out Trump’s directive.
According to Washington Post, the move which was confirmed by Pentagon in a statement credited to Mattis, said that he will first develop a study and implementation plan “as directed ” by the president in a memorandum released on Friday. According to the General, “Forthcoming political appointees at the Defense Department will play a huge role in this latest effort. The plan will address both the potential for transgender people looking to serve in the military for the first time, and transgender troops who already are serving”.
Mattis stressed further, “Our focus must always be on what is best for the military’s combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield. To that end, I will establish a panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president’s direction.”
Mattis added that, “panel members will bring mature experience, most notably in combat and deployed operations, and seasoned judgment to this task. The panel will assemble and thoroughly analyze all pertinent data, quantifiable and non -quantifiable.”
In addition, the Pentagon chief said after the panel makes its recommendations with a consultation with the secretary of homeland security, he will then proceed to provide his advice to the President. “In the meantime, policy regarding transgender service members will remain in place,” Mattis added.
Earlier on Friday evening, the White House in a statement announced that it was moving forward with Trump’s transgender ban as Hurricane Harvey descended on Texas. President Trump had said in a memorandum that he needed the Pentagon “to return to the longstanding policy and practice on military service by transgender individuals that was in place prior to June 2016 until such time as a sufficient basis exists, to conclude that allowing them to service will not have negative effects”.
The memorandum indulges Mattis until February 01, 2018, to present a plan to the President on how to implement the transgender ban, and the action to take on active transgender service members.
In multiple tweets by the President in July, he wrote “After consultation with my Generals and military experts , please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail . Thank you.”
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