Mattis Creating New Panel to Study Issue, Allowing Transgender Troops to Continue Serving for Now
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has just announced the U.S. military’s policy on transgender troops will not change for now, and service members can continue to serve as before, pending the completion of a new study by experts.
“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 a statement Tuesday evening, as USA Today reports. “In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.”
Mattis goes on to say he is creating a new panel of experts to study the issue, which is a great way to delay something.
“Our focus must always be on what is best for the military’s combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield,” Mattis’ statement continues. “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. 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. Further information on the panel will be forthcoming.”
This move cannot be seen as anything but a huge rebuke to President Donald Trump, who more than a month ago announced he was implementing a total ban on transgender service members. The White House on Friday announced guidance that allows Mattis to determine which transgender service members can continue without being expelled from the service, stating “deployability” should be the key factor, along with debunked concepts like unit cohesion.
UPDATE: 8:17 PM EDT –
The ACLU’s Chase Strangio notes that “Surgeries are still being cancelled and reenlistments denied.”
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