Trump orders new military policy on troops’ gender

President Donald Trump on Monday ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to roll back Pentagon policies allowing soldiers to identify as members of the opposite sex. Soldiers who identify as the opposite sex, and who require others to recognize them that way, lack the character and qualification to be effective soldiers, according to Trump’s order. The president issued a separate executive order earlier this month saying there were only two sexes.

Didn’t Trump also make an order about military DEI programs? On Monday, Trump also ordered Hegseth to roll back all diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs at the Pentagon. In the order, the White House said the programs undermined unit cohesion, meritocracy, and leadership. As such, they made the U.S. military weaker, according to the president’s order. Earlier this month, Trump ordered a rollback of similar programs elsewhere in the federal government and among its contractors.

Did Trump give Hegseth any other instructions? Trump ordered the Pentagon to offer to reinstate any servicemember earlier discharged over an unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Any military serviceman or servicewoman who accepts the offer would immediately return to their prior rank and position without going through probation and would receive full back pay, bonuses, and benefits. Under the order, any servicemember who voluntarily left the service rather than accept the vaccine would also be allowed to return to his or her post.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Trump is catching heat from both sides of the aisle for firing several independent federal watchdogs.