Former President Donald Trump is expected to sign two major executive orders on Monday aimed at restricting transgender military service and rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the U.S. military. The orders are part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to reverse policies introduced during the Biden administration, including expanding rights for transgender service members and promoting diversity within the armed forces.
The executive orders will reinstate a controversial policy from Trump’s first term that prohibited transgender people from enlisting in the military and rescind an order signed by President Joe Biden that allowed trans individuals to join the military. Biden’s 2021 order also ensured that transgender service members already in uniform could receive coverage for transition-related medical care.
Key Details of Trump’s Executive Orders
According to a White House document detailing the upcoming orders, the new policies will prioritize military “readiness” and “lethality” by updating the Department of Defense’s medical standards. The executive orders will also include several measures aimed at limiting transgender inclusion, including:
- A ban on transgender individuals enlisting in the military.
- The end of gender-specific pronouns in military settings, replacing them with “invented and identification-based” pronouns.
- Prohibiting people assigned male at birth from using women’s sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities.
- A ban on coverage for transition-related medical care under the military’s health care program, Tricare, for currently enlisted service members and their families.
While the new restrictions will not immediately eject transgender service members from the military, it remains unclear how these orders will affect those already receiving transition-related care through Tricare. Furthermore, Biden’s December 2023 defense bill already blocked gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members, an issue that has sparked continued debate.
Impact of Previous Transgender Military Restrictions
The executive orders signed by Trump on Monday will largely mirror the transgender military restrictions he introduced in 2017. Under those guidelines, transgender service members were divided into two categories: exempt and nonexempt. Exempt members were those who had already come out as transgender before the restriction and could continue serving openly, while nonexempt members were required to serve in their birth-assigned gender and were prohibited from receiving any transition-related care. The policy also completely banned transgender people from enlisting in the military.
Although Trump’s administration argued that the 2017 policy was not a “trans military ban,” as it allowed for limited waivers, only one waiver was publicly reported during the four years it was in effect.
The White House document supporting the new orders justifies the policy by claiming that transition-related surgeries, which often require long recovery times and substantial medical care, make transgender service members unfit for military duties such as deployment. The document also criticizes Biden’s repeal of Trump’s restrictions, claiming that the previous administration’s policy led to millions of dollars in taxpayer spending on transition-related surgeries and care.
Military’s Current Transgender Service Members and Costs
Estimates on the number of transgender individuals currently serving in the U.S. military vary. A 2014 report by the Williams Institute at UCLA estimated that about 15,500 transgender people were in the military, while a 2016 Rand Corporation study put the number at 10,790, though it noted the figure could be as low as 2,150. The Department of Defense does not publicly report exact figures on the number of transgender service members.
A recent report from the Congressional Research Service revealed that between 2016 and 2021, the Defense Department spent approximately $15 million on transition-related care for 1,892 active-duty service members, including $11.5 million on psychotherapy and $3.1 million on surgeries.
Reaction from Transgender Service Members
Transgender service members have expressed concern over the potential reinstatement of these restrictions. Emily Shilling, a Navy commander and president of SPARTA, a transgender military advocacy group, came out as a transgender woman in 2019, shortly after Trump’s initial restrictions were enacted. Under those rules, she was required to serve in alignment with her birth-assigned gender.
“I want to keep using the skills this nation invested in me as a fighter pilot and leader,” said Shilling, who has served in the military since 2005. “Since coming out as transgender, I’ve served with distinction, earning a promotion with distinction as the top officer in my community. My country has given me so much, serving it has been my life’s greatest honor.”
Shilling added that she and other transgender service members simply want to continue serving their country without fear of discrimination or exclusion.
Trump’s Focus on DEI and Military Curriculum
In addition to the transgender military restrictions, Trump is expected to sign another executive order aimed at curbing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the military. This order will mandate the disbanding of DEI offices within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a review of service academy curricula to ensure the elimination of “radical DEI and gender ideologies.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote, “No more DEI at @DeptofDefense” and warned that any department personnel who failed to comply with the new directive would be removed.
This executive order is part of Trump’s broader agenda to dismantle Biden-era initiatives on diversity and gender rights. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump issued several executive orders, including one that recognized only two genders, male and female, and another that ended DEI programs in federal agencies. As part of this push, the State Department recently suspended all passport applications requesting changes to gender markers.
As Trump prepares to sign these orders, the ongoing debate over transgender rights and diversity initiatives in the military is set to intensify. With transgender service members facing uncertainty and LGBTQ+ advocates mobilizing against the restrictions, the future of these policies remains unclear. Trump’s executive orders, which reflect his commitment to rolling back Biden-era policies, signal a major shift in how the U.S. military will approach transgender service and diversity in the years to come.
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