Senate Democrats are demanding answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on how the Defense Department is complying with two separate nationwide injunctions blocking implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order that bars transgenders troops from service. In a letter led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.), more than a dozen Democrats said denying troops who meet all military requirements the right to serve “based on ideological grounds is inherently un-American and jeopardizes our national security.” “This [executive order] establishes a dangerous precedent, allowing the President to arbitrarily decide that an entire group of people is harmful to an undefined ideal of ‘unit cohesion’ and purge them from the Joint Force — without producing any meaningful evidence. This policy insults the service of brave Americans who believe that all people, regardless of differences, are equal and have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Duckworth wrote.
The lawmakers are asking Hegseth whether any service members have been prematurely dismissed due to Trump’s executive actions, if any assistance was provided to assist those service members with transition back to civilian life, and what the department is doing to bring those people back. They are also asking how much taxpayer money is being spent to enforce the policy and remove transgender troops from the military. The letter marks the first direct effort by Senate Democrats to press Hegseth about the administration’s stance on transgender people serving in the military.
The lawmakers want Hegseth to respond by April 25. The Defense Department was scheduled to begin implementation of the ban on March 28. Former senior defense officials said the timeline for implementing the ban is “rushed,” “alarming,” and said the department’s decision to process transgender troops through administrative separation procedures sends a “devastating message about military values.” “The only real plan the order outlines seems to be the aggressive rounding up of transgender service members for immediate dismissal without clear planning about either the gaps these dismissals will create or how to fill them,” former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro wrote in an opinion piece.
Trump’s executive order instructed Hegseth to develop a plan within 30 days and then execute it. Following the executive order, the Pentagon issued a memo on Feb. 26 directing senior leaders to develop procedures within 30 days to identify service members with current or past gender dysphoria and to begin “separation actions.” While the memo stated exceptions could be made on a case-by-case basis, and the Defense Department has long maintained that the military barring transgender people from the service is not a wholesale ban due to a waiver process that could allow some recruits to join, it banned all people who had gender dysphoria from serving. Two federal judges in the District of Columbia and Washington state issued preliminary injunctions in March blocking the Pentagon from enforcing the ban.
The Pentagon has appealed both injunctions and the D.C. Court of Appeals temporarily paused the ruling but with one condition — the government is not allowed to discharge transgender service members while the court considers whether to temporarily let the government enforce the ban. The D.C. appeals court heard oral arguments on Tuesday — appeals judges expressed skepticism about the basis for a wholesale ban on transgender people serving in the military. Department of Justice attorney Jason Manion justified the policy by saying it will “increase the readiness and effectiveness of the military.” “In fact, not being able to enact it would be harmful to the military,” Manion said.
Judge Cornelia Pillard, former President Barack Obama appointee, said the Defense Department did not provide the court with evidence to prove that transgender troops are less ready for combat. “I think in all cases where courts have evaluated transgender issues on the merits of the case and based on facts, and in this case, courts will side with the fact that being transgender is a treatable medical condition. This ban is based on pure animus and the courts are seeing it that way.
This is about freedom plain and simple. Active-duty service members and veterans have selflessly devoted ourselves to this nation, fighting for the preservation of individual liberty,” Alaina Kupec, a retired Naval intelligence officer and the founder and President of the Gender Research Advisory Council + Education, told Federal News Network. Since Trump signed the executive order banning transgender people from enlisting and serving, Kupec said some service members have since left the service due to the “blatant discrimination and harassment that this ban has ushered in.” “On the other hand, there have been many cases of support and commitment on the part of many military leaders, who see the policy for what it is — the politicization of our military.
The whole issue has made our military less ready to do their job of defending our nation. It has introduced chaos where it was not needed,” Kupec said. In 2018, the Palm Center estimated that there were 14,707 transgender troops in the military — 8,980 were active-duty troops and 5,727 were in the Reserve forces.
The Defense Department allowed transgender people to openly serve for the first time in 2016 during the Obama administration. The policy was part of a broader effort to implement nondiscrimination practices and promote inclusive practices in the armed forces. In January, House Democrats reintroduced the Ensuring Military Readiness Not Discrimination Act, which would prohibit the use of any criteria relating to the “race, color, national origin, religion, or sex, including gender identity, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics of an individual” when determining a potential recruit’s eligibility to serve.
“Kicking nearly 15,000 service members out of the military solely because of their identity would be catastrophic to our military readiness and recruitment. If the Trump Administration reinstates the transgender military ban and discharges all trans service members, it would take 20 years and cost $18 billion to replace the talent and expertise we’ve lost,” Reps. Sara Jacobs, (D-Calif.), who spearheaded the effort, said in a statement. If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747 Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network.
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