Story highlights House Republican leaders knew the White House was already looking to change policy

President Donald Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military

(CNN) Republicans on Capitol Hill are scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday to reinstitute a ban on transgender people serving in the military after conservatives who lobbied the White House say they were pushing only to prevent the Pentagon from paying for medical costs associated with gender confirmation -- not an outright ban.

Trump's decision, announced Wednesday on Twitter and sparking bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill, comes after the White House was lobbied by conservatives on the issue, including Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who proposed an amendment on the defense authorization bill to ban the Pentagon from paying what Hartzler called "transition surgeries," as well as hormone therapy. The Missouri Republican lobbied the White House in recent weeks to do something on the issue, a GOP congressional aide familiar with the situation told CNN.

House Republican leaders knew the White House was already looking to change policy related to transgender people, but only as it relates to how or whether taxpayer money is being used for medical treatments, two Republican leadership sources told CNN.

Trump's announcement on a total ban of transgender people serving in the US military was "far beyond leaders' expectations and caught many by surprise," one of those sources told CNN.

Hartzler tried to engage with Defense Secretary James Mattis on service members' gender-related medical costs before the House took up the defense authorization bill, the aide said. When her amendment to that bill failed, she went to the White House to "address the issue" before the security spending bill was brought to the floor, a GOP congressional aide familiar with the situation told CNN.

Read More