US President Donald Trump is expected to sign four executive orders that would reshape the military, including banning transgender service members from serving in the US armed forces, gutting the military’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, and reinstating back pay service members who were discharged for refusing to get vaccinated from Covid-19, two White House officials told CNN.
Recall on January 20, Trump during his first hours in office, revoked an executive order signed by former President Biden in 2021 that allowed transgender people to serve and prevented the military from discharging soldiers because of their gender identity. Trump also signed a sweeping executive order recognizing only two genders, male and female.
Moments after arriving at the Pentagon on Monday, new secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth told reporters that there are “more executive orders coming.”
“Today, there are more executive orders coming, … on removing DEI inside the Pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of Covid mandates, iron dome for America — this is happening quickly, and as the secretary of defense, it’s an honor to salute smartly as I did as a junior officer and now as the secretary of defense to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly,” Hegseth said.
Monday’s executive order, according to the fact sheet, argues that allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military has undermined military readiness and “unit cohesion,” an argument that has long been used to prevent marginalized communities, including Black and gay Americans and women, from serving.
The order, first reported by the New York Post also prohibits transgender women from “using or sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing in facilities designated for females.”