Mattis freezes Trump's ban on transgender

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced Tuesday that he is freezing President Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military, saying that 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 that the Pentagon will develop a study and implementation plan "as directed." Soon-to-be arriving political appointees at the Defense Department "will play an important role in this effort." 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."

Mattis added that panel members "will bring mature experience, most notably in combat and deployed operations, and seasoned judgment to this task." The panel will "assemble and thoroughly analyze all pertinent data, quantifiable and non-quantifiable."

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 regarding transgender service members will remain in place, Mattis said, meaning that those already serving can continue to do so.

The issue has been especially sensitive since Trump announced on Twitter on July 26 that "after consultation with my Generals and military experts," he would not allow transgender to serve in the the U.S. military "in any capacity." White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders clarified later that day that no change would be made until an implementation policy was developed.

The Obama administration repealed its ban on transgender service member serving in July 2016. A Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon found there were between 2,500 and 7,000 transgender people among the 1.3 million on active duty, but Mattis has questioned the study's accuracy.