The head of the Coast Guard is pledging that he “will not break faith” with transgender personnel, reports Politico.
This is the strongest rebuttal by a leader of the armed forces yet in regards to President Donald Trump’s statement that he wants to ban all transgender troops. Trump announced in a series of tweets last week that transgender men and women would not be allowed to serve in the military “in any capacity.”
According to Politico, Commandant Paul Zukunft reached out to the secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense to consider the announcement’s implications, and he also personally reached out to all openly transgender members of the Coast Guard to express his support.
It is unclear how the president’s wishes will be implemented. Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the proposal. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said that the Defense Department has received no additional guidance beyond Trump’s tweets, and it is still waiting on a formal order.
Capt. Davis says White House officials have begun drafting the order, but declined to get into any specifics. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters last week that the White House will work with the Department of Defense to make sure “we fully implement this policy moving forward and do so in a lawful manner.”
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