President Donald Trump signed new executive orders restricting openly transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, as well as eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and practices within the military.
According to the executive order “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on “individuals with gender dysphoria,” and pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex are inconsistent with U.S. government policy to “establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.”
According to fact sheets obtained by The Epoch Times from the White House detailing its position on its Jan. 27 executive orders, the Trump administration is addressing concerns that transgender individuals in the military are not physically capable of meeting the demands of military service during and after gender-transitioning surgery.
“It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics,” the fact sheet states. “During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care.”
During his first term, Trump enacted similar policies that limited trans-identifying troops in the military. President Joe Biden undid those Trump-era efforts shortly after taking office in 2021, signing Executive Order 14004, which expressly permitted transgender individuals to serve.
Trump’s new order rescinds Biden’s 2021 executive order. In its place, the Trump order requires the Department of Defense to update its medical standards regarding the readiness and deployability of its forces.
The new order states that the military will no longer recognize the use of “invented and identification-based pronouns.” The order further provides that individuals will use the sleeping, changing, and bathroom facilities that correspond to their biological sex.
This order concerning gender identity and transgender individuals will apply to all branches of the U.S. military and the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to a fact sheet for his second executive order, addressing DEI programs in the military, Trump will do away with DEI practices that result in “discriminatory race- or sex-based preferences by any element of the Armed Forces, the Department of Defense, or the Department of Homeland Security.”
Hegseth has 90 days to report back on his review.
These new executive orders followed Hegseth and Noem’s confirmations by the Senate for their Cabinet positions on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, respectively.
“The President’s guidance (lawful orders) is clear: No more DEI at [the Department of Defense]. The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name-changes, or delays,” Hegseth wrote in a Jan. 26 social media post following his Senate confirmation.
Trump also announced an executive order reinstating U.S. troops who were involuntarily discharged for refusing a Biden-era mandate to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The order applies to service members who request to be reinstated, allowing them to return to their former rank and receive the full extent of back pay and benefits they lost as a result of their separation.
A provision within the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act ordered an end to the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and the Department of Defense officially rescinded the policy in January 2023.
In a December 2022 Fox News op-ed, just weeks before the mandate was withdrawn, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) estimated that about 3,400 troops had been forced out over the policy.
