WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary James Mattis announced Tuesday that he is freezing President Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military, saying he will first establish a panel of experts to provide advice and recommendations on how to carry out Trump's direction.
The Pentagon confirmed the move in a statement attributed to Mattis, saying the Pentagon will develop a study and implementation plan "as directed." The plan will address both the potential for transgender people looking to serve in the military for the first time and transgender troops who already are serving.
"Our focus must always be on what is best for the military's combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield," Mattis said. "To that end, I will establish a panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president's direction."
The Pentagon chief said that once the panel makes its recommendations and he consults with the secretary of homeland security, he will provide his advice to Trump. In the meantime, current policy will remain in place, Mattis said, meaning that those already serving can continue to do so.
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The issue has been especially sensitive since Trump announced on Twitter on July 26 that he would not allow transgender to serve in the the U.S. military "in any capacity."
White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders clarified later that day that no change would be made until an implementation policy was developed.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the ban on behalf of six active-duty military members.
One plaintiff in the lawsuit is a "John Doe" stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.
The suit states that Doe, a senior airman, has served for six years in the U.S. Air Force and is pursuing a cryogenics certification. A cryogenics technician handles liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen, which are used to help pilots breathe at high altitude.
The Little Rock airman, who is transgender, had been undergoing hormone therapy as a medically necessary part of his gender transition, the suit said. Those treatments stopped after Trump's July tweets, according to the ACLU.
Doe, the suit says, was awarded "Airman of the Year" for his unit.
Information for this article was contributed by Dan Lamothe of The Washington Post and by Hunter Field of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 08/30/2017