President Biden could reverse the old President Trump
Donald TrumpNYT: Deputy Perry played a role in Trump’s alleged plan to expel AG Arizona GOP censors leading state Republicans McCain, Flake and Ducey Biden and the UK Prime Minister discuss NATO, multilateralism during call MOREThe military ban on transgender people as early as Monday, a source familiar with the plan confirmed to The Hill.
Biden is expected to sign an executive order reversing Trump’s policy as soon as the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
Lloyd AustinBiden must wait for the State Department’s Trump impeachment trial to begin the weekend to begin the week of February 8. is ceremonially sworn in the White House on Monday, the source said.
Asked about the matter, the Pentagon referred The Hill to the White House, which did not immediately respond to an email request. The moment was first reported by CBS News.
Biden promised during the presidential campaign that he would lift the ban, referring to doing so as a “first day” priority. But it was not among the batch of executive orders that Biden signed hours after his inauguration, amid a delay in Austin’s confirmation.
Austin was confirmed on Friday morning and officially sworn in later that day.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Austin said he supported lifting the ban.
“I support the president’s plan to lift the ban,” Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I really believe, Senator, as I said in my opening statement, that if you are fit and qualified to serve and can maintain standards, you must be allowed to serve.”
The Obama administration, of which Biden was vice president, lifted the previous ban on transgender military service in 2016.
But in 2017, Trump tweeted that he would reverse the open service policy, saying that he “would not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any position in the U.S. Armed Forces.”
In 2019, the Pentagon implemented a policy designed to comply with Trump’s order that prohibits most trans people from serving in the army unless they do so in their biological sex.
The Trump administration denied that the policy was a ban due to some limited exceptions. For example, Trump’s policy has allowed transgender troops and recruits to seek an exemption to serve openly. It also allowed those who took over the Obama administration’s policy to continue to serve openly.
It is only known that the military has granted an exemption since Trump’s policy came into effect, and opponents of the policy say the data shows that it is effectively a ban similar to the extinct “don’t ask, don’t say” policy that banned the service opened by members of the gay, lesbian and bisexual service.
Four lawsuits were filed against the ban. The lawyers in the cases said they expected the lawsuits to be resolved if and when Biden reverses Trump’s policy.
Biden was under pressure to quickly lift the ban, with defenders saying there was no reason why he could not do so immediately.
A memo released in July by the Palm Center, which researches gender and sexuality issues in the armed forces, said the open service could be restored within 30 days after an executive order lifted the ban because the Pentagon had to keep the political structure of the United States intact. Obama administration. to allow those who have left to continue to serve openly.