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Day: May 9, 2025

Hegseth orders deadline for trans service members to leave military: ‘Out at the DOD’

Hegseth orders deadline for trans service members to leave military: ‘Out at the DOD’

Transgender troops have between 30 and 60 days to self-separate from the military after a court order allowed the ban on their service to move forward, according to a Thursday memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “After a SCOTUS victory for @POTUS, TRANS is out at the DOD,” Hegseth wrote on X, along with a video announcing the new deadline.  Approximately 1,000 service members have self–identified as having gender dysphoria and will begin the voluntary separation process, according to the Pentagon.  Active duty service members have until June 6, one month after the court’s ruling, to leave the military. Reservists have until July 7.  SUPREME COURT STAYS LOWER COURT RULING, ALLOWING TRUMP TRANSGENDER BAN TO PROCEED “The Secretary is encouraged by the Supreme Court’s order staying the lower court’s injunction, allowing the Department of Defense to carry out its policies associated with ‘Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,’” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement celebrating the ruling and announcing the new timeline.  “In accordance with policy now reinstated, service members who have a current diagnosis or history of or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily,” Hegseth said, adding that if they chose not to do so by the deadline, they would be removed “involuntarily, if necessary.” HEGSETH SAYS HE’S SIGNING MEMO ON COMBAT ARMS STANDARDS FOR MEN AND WOMEN The high court ruling was a victory for the White House, even as the justices did not address the underlying merits of the case or President Donald Trump‘s Jan. 27 executive order banning transgender service members from the U.S. military. A lower court had issued an injunction on the policy. The Trump administration argued that delaying the policy could pose a threat to U.S. military readiness. Trump officials have argued that the transgender military policy “furthers the government’s important interests in military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and avoiding disproportionate costs.” An executive order signed by Trump in January ordered Hegseth to update medical standards to ensure they “prioritize readiness and lethality” and take action to “end the use of invented and identification-based pronouns” within the DOD. It says that expressing a “gender identity” different from an individual’s sex at birth does not meet military standards.  A categorical ban on transgender service members was lifted in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama. Between Jan. 1, 2016, and May 14, 2021, the DOD reportedly spent approximately $15 million on providing transgender treatments (surgical and nonsurgical) to 1,892 active-duty service members, according to the Congressional Research Service.  The transgender ban is part of a broader push by the new Pentagon leadership to root out any policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).  Last month, Hegseth announced that “99.9%” of DEI-related policies had been eliminated at the Defense Department, as he raised standards for fitness tests and moved to ensure the combat fitness test held men and women to the same standards.  Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

Trump, lawmakers at odds over whether FEMA should be elevated to Cabinet-level agency or completely overhauled

Trump, lawmakers at odds over whether FEMA should be elevated to Cabinet-level agency or completely overhauled

While President Donald Trump wants to gut the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seeking to elevate FEMA to a Cabinet-level agency.  FEMA is currently housed under the Department of Homeland Security, but the House effort would solidify FEMA as its own separate agency, according to a discussion draft of the legislation released Thursday.  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and committee ranking member Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., are spearheading the legislation.  Other proposals included in the draft legislation are instructing the Office of Management and Budget to create a centralized website tracking disaster assistance recovery across the federal government, and allowing FEMA to foot the bill for repairs to homes suffering damage in disasters.  Currently, FEMA only covers expenses that make a home livable following disasters.  ‘FEMA IS NOT GOOD’: TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGENCY OVERHAUL DURING VISIT TO NORTH CAROLINA  “By releasing this discussion draft legislation, we hope to engage our colleagues and stakeholders on comprehensive FEMA reform,” Graves said in a Thursday statement. “This draft bill includes substantive changes that will transform FEMA and our emergency programs to be much more state and locally driven – not micro-managed into ineffectiveness by the federal government.” While Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have voiced support for eradicating FEMA, the former acting administrator of FEMA, Cameron Hamilton, warned against gutting the agency on Wednesday. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told lawmakers on the House Appropriations committee on Wednesday.  “Having said that, I’m not in a position to make a decision,” Hamilton said. “That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body.” However, Hamilton, who previously served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy with SEAL Team 8 and started leading FEMA in January, was ousted from his post Thursday.  ACTING FEMA ADMINISTRATOR OUT AFTER PUSHING BACK AGAINST TRUMP’S AGENCY PLANS FEMA confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday that Hamilton was no longer with the agency.  Days after his inauguration in January, Trump visited North Carolina to oversee the state’s efforts to recover from Hurricane Helene, more than 120 days after the storm struck the state. On the trip, Trump floated plans to gut FEMA, which oversaw the disaster relief efforts.  “I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.” The executive order established a review council to evaluate potential reforms to FEMA, including whether the agency’s bureaucracy restricts its ability to appropriately respond to disasters. Likewise, Trump’s budget proposal includes plans to slash nearly $650 million in FEMA grants.  On Tuesday, Noem told lawmakers that Trump stands by his statements that FEMA’s current setup should be quashed.  “He believes that FEMA and its response in many, many circumstances has failed the American people, and that FEMA as it exists today should be eliminated,” Noem said.