{"id":63145,"date":"2021-01-25T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/25\/ap-source-biden-to-drop-trumps-military-transgender-ban\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:26:14","slug":"ap-source-biden-to-drop-trumps-military-transgender-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/01\/25\/ap-source-biden-to-drop-trumps-military-transgender-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Source: Biden to drop Trump\u2019s military transgender ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order to reverse a Pentagon policy that largely bars transgender individuals from joining the military<\/a>, dumping a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office, a person briefed on the decision tells The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden has been widely expected to overturn the Trump policy in his early days in office. The White House could announce the move as early as Monday, according to the person briefed on the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move to reverse the policy has the support of Biden\u2019s newly confirmed defense secretary, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who spoke of the need to overturn it<\/a> during his Senate confirmation hearing last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI support the president\u2019s plan or plan to overturn the ban,\u201d Austin said. \u201cIf you\u2019re fit and you\u2019re qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision comes as Biden plans to turn his attention to equity issues that he believes continue to shadow nearly all aspects of American life. Ahead of his inauguration, Biden\u2019s transition team circulated a memo from Ron Klain, now the White House chief of staff, that sketched out Biden\u2019s plan to use his first full week as president \u201cto advance equity and support communities of color and other underserved communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move to overturn the transgender ban is also the latest example of Biden using executive authority in his first days as president to dismantle Trump\u2019s legacy. His early actions include orders to overturn a Trump administration ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries, stop construction of the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and launch an initiative to advance racial equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden is also scheduled to hold a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on Monday at the White House for Austin, who became the nation\u2019s first Black defense secretary.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was unclear how quickly the Pentagon can put a new policy in effect, and whether it will take some time to work out details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until a few years ago service members could be discharged from the military for being transgender, but that changed during the Obama administration. In 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to serve openly. And the military set July 1, 2017, as the date when transgender individuals would be allowed to enlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Trump took office, however, his administration delayed the enlistment date and called for additional study to determine if allowing transgender individuals to serve would affect military readiness or effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks later, Trump caught military leaders by surprise, tweeting that the government wouldn\u2019t accept or allow transgender individuals to serve \u201cin any capacity\u201d in the military. \u201cOur 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\t