Social engineering doesn’t belong in the military.
The next crucial debate over President Trump’s order to roll back open transgender military service could play out in the Senate when lawmakers return next week from summer recess.
The chamber is set to consider its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that sets military policies. Two senators, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have already filed a proposed amendment to the bill that could jam a wrench into the president’s plans.
It would bar the Pentagon from kicking out any transgender troops or rescinding their medical benefits until the military finished a study on recruitment and reported back to Congress.
The idea has support from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Armed Services chairman, who will help decide which proposed NDAA amendments will be approved for a vote on the Senate floor.
“The Pentagon’s ongoing study on this issue should be completed before any decisions are made with regard to accession,” McCain said last week after Trump issued formal orders to the Pentagon.
McCain called the president’s new transgender policy a “step in the wrong direction” and said troops should not be forced from the service based on their gender identity.