On Monday, President Donald Trump enacted a series of executive orders aimed at reshaping the Pentagon to reflect his stringent views, paving the way for a potential ban on transgender individuals who have served honorably and reinstating military personnel dismissed for not complying with COVID vaccine mandates.
Trump has also instructed the newly appointed Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and to establish a missile defense system in space for the U.S.
The executive order regarding transgender soldiers, anticipated by many, mandates Hegseth to craft and enforce a new strategy likely prohibiting their involvement in the military.
“Choosing a gender identity that diverges from one’s biological sex contradicts a soldier’s duty to uphold a lifestyle of honor, integrity, and discipline, even in their private life,” the order states.
During his initial term, Trump instituted a ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military in April 2019, following a Supreme Court decision permitting the policy to proceed amid ongoing legal challenges.
In 2021, former President Joe Biden overturned Trump’s policy and restored the services of any personnel affected by the ban shortly after he assumed office.
Two organizations that previously challenged Trump’s transgender military ban during his first term announced intentions to contest his new executive order.
“We’ve encountered this situation previously and successfully halted the previous administration’s attempt to bar dedicated, capable Americans from serving their nation,” stated Sasha Buchert, an attorney for the LGBT rights organization Lambda Legal.
“Such actions are not only inhumane but also jeopardize the safety and security of our nation and are especially reckless and unjust. As we vowed back then, we reiterate our commitment: we will take legal action.”
This statement was made in conjunction with the Human Rights Campaign, another LGBT advocacy organization.
While there is no formal count of transgender service members, a 2018 study by the Palm Center approximated 14,000 individuals in active and reserve duty combined. Another report from 2020 by researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences estimated around 8,000 transgender personnel in active duty.
As a result, Trump’s order could potentially result in the removal of thousands of service members at a time when the Army has struggled with recruitment, falling short of its 2023 goal by 10,000 personnel or 20 percent.
Additionally, Trump’s directive to reinstate service members who were dismissed or voluntarily resigned due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates might affect around 8,200 individuals.
The Pentagon mandated the COVID vaccine for all military personnel in August 2021, although this policy was reversed in January 2023.
Since being offered the chance to reenlist, just over 100 have accepted the opportunity.
Trump’s initiative to eliminate “the DEI bureaucracy”—which extends to the U.S. Coast Guard, under the Department of Homeland Security—was anticipated and aligns with directives his administration had issued throughout the federal landscape.
The order specific to the Pentagon seeks to terminate “any remnants of DEI offices, including sub-offices, initiatives, or programs aimed at enforcing a race-based preference system that undermines merit-based evaluation.”
The directive for the military to establish its own “Iron Dome” in outer space recalls President Ronald Reagan’s 1980s “Star Wars” project that did not materialize. It also references Trump’s earlier term, during which he founded the United States Space Force.
He called for the creation of a missile defense system that would deploy “space-based interceptors” to address threats from ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.
According to the order, Hegseth has a 60-day window to propose plans for the space-oriented missile defense system.
