Politics
Retired Lt. Col. Jennifer Pritzker on Trump’s Attempt to Ban Transgender Troops From the Military
A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban transgender troops from serving in the military, saying the policy is discriminatory and “soaked in animus.”
The move comes after current and would-be transgender service members filed suit over the Trump administration’s executive order, calling it “character assassination based on nothing.”
But administration officials want the judge to lift her injunction, arguing the ban has a grounding in medicine, not discrimination.
The Pentagon on Friday released new guidance on transgender military personnel stating, “the Department of Defense will review service members’ medical records, and within 45 days give them self-assessment questionnaires, to determine whether they have a current diagnosis, history, or symptoms of gender dysphoria,” which would then categorize them as “not medically ready” and ineligible for continued service.
The Department of Justice is arguing in court that the ban is based on medical diagnoses, not an anti-trans agenda. However, District Judge Ana Reyes rejected a similar argument when she blocked the policy preventing the guidance from taking effect.
“What questions do they propose to put on the questionnaire?” said Jennifer Pritzker, a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army, businesswoman and philanthropist. “What is the criteria for either retention or discharge? I think it’s only fair that that be disclosed to the people who are taking the questionnaire. I don’t know why, why don’t they just give that to everybody?”
Pritzker said Trump’s executive order to remove transgender troops from the military is going to cause “tremendous disruption” and aside from affecting morale and combat readiness, there could be an economic impact.
“Processing a civilian into any branch of the armed forces in the first year easily runs $100,000 now,” Pritzker said. “It’s six months minimum for entry-level training. And then when they show up for their unit, it takes another three to six months for them to become a net positive asset to their unit.”
In his executive order in January, the president wrote that being transgender “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle” and is harmful to military readiness. He has also characterized the cost of providing medical care for transgender troops as expensive.
However, Reyes said in court the Department of Defense spent approximately $5.2 million annually over the past decade to treat gender dysphoria — only a fraction of the total $17 billion budget for the department’s health agency.
There are 4,240 service members across active duty, reserves and National Guard personnel with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, described as a psychological distress a person feels when their gender identity differs from their gender at birth. Not every transgender individual has gender dysphoria.
Backers of the ban argue that medical treatment for transgender people in the military is cost-prohibitive.
“The treatment, if properly applied, will save money in the long run,” Pritzker said. “No organization is any better than the people in it, and if you invest productively in their welfare, you will have a better organization.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised to appeal the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
