Reports: Mattis froze the transgender military ban. Reality: no, he didn’t
He’s just doing what President Donald Trump told him to do.
Despite media reports to the contrary, Secretary of Defense James Mattis didn’t freeze Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops. Instead, Mattis is doing exactly what Trump told him to do: Prepare a plan to implement a deeply controversial order that many in the military and on Capitol Hill oppose.
“The department will carry out the Trump’s policy direction,” Mattis said in a statement last night. “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 Trump’s direction.”
And once the panel gives Mattis its recommendations, he’ll talk to Trump about how to turn them into practice.
Photo By DonkeyHotey (Jim Mattis – Caricature) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons