More than a hundred Democrats from the House of Representatives co-signed a letter to the Pentagon, trying to gauge what role the Department of Defense had in President Trump's decision to bar transgender individuals from the military. Trump first announced the policy change on Twitter, citing input from generals and military experts, as well as "tremendous medical costs and disruption" that transgender troops would allegedly cause.
Trump announced his July decision in a series of tweets:
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
Trump's tweets, followed by a Presidential memo, reportedly came as a surprise to the Department of Defense — despite the President's insistence that they were involved.
Now, House Democrats think Trump has some explaining to do:
Letter from 114 House Democrats challenges Trump's decision to ban transgender troops https://t.co/qTRCllQelA pic.twitter.com/aQjdR6httI
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 11, 2017
The letter requests proof of correspondence between the White House and the Pentagon:
We seek access to these materials in order to determine whether the president, his national security team, and military leaders are actively coordinating policy with one another, or whether the president’s transgender ban announcement reflected a breakdown in communication. As you know, clear communication between the White House and the Pentagon is essential to our nation’s security.
Virginia Rep. Donald McEachin, who is leading the efforts, said in a press release:
We seek information to discover the proof of where and when the Pentagon advised the president that this was the best idea for our country. If there is proof then we can evaluate that, if there is no proof then the President lied to the American people once again.
114 of my colleagues joined me on a letter to General Mattis, requesting correspondence before Trump’s #TransBan. https://t.co/tPJ2KvBuZR pic.twitter.com/npFesMawUI
— Rep. Donald McEachin (@RepMcEachin) October 10, 2017
#TransBan is anything but respectful. We deserve to know what information, if any, prompted this.
— Rep. Donald McEachin (@RepMcEachin) October 10, 2017
I promise to continue fighting for LGBTQ rights and equality in the Commonwealth, and across the nation.
— Rep. Donald McEachin (@RepMcEachin) October 11, 2017
People spoke out in support of the House Democrats' efforts:
Good on these Democrats for pushing back against transphobia. https://t.co/Jpndv5Jwvm
— NextGen America (@NextGenAmerica) October 11, 2017
Thanks @RepMcEachin & 110+ Members of Congress for leading efforts to investigate Trump’s discriminatory #TransBan https://t.co/xG3oN2pizt
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) October 10, 2017
Releived to see political challenge to Trumps decision which is backwards & discriminatory -to those who haven't opposed I offer this poem: pic.twitter.com/kFr1ZQz2Rk
— Living Beyond Fear (@beyondfeartalk) October 11, 2017
Not one republican signed that letter? That show a lot of what they really feel. Amazing in 2017.
— Peter (@Peter38982844) October 11, 2017
Why are Republicans silent?
— 🇺🇸Nalini Singh🗽 (@historBilia) October 11, 2017
From a President & his sons who avoided military duty & criticized McCann he has the balls to ban transgender troops who volunteer to serve
— mozzy (@deerleap62) October 11, 2017
H/T - HuffPost, Mother Jones