Biden executive order directs government to fund gender transition surgeries for military men and women

The story begins with the the "Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform" executive order signed by President Biden on January 25th. The first section is mostly focused on the policy outline in itself. At a glance it seems as if the EO is simply about allowing transgendered persons to serve alongside everyone else in the military.

A closer look reveals more. Tucked away within the paragraphs it says: "the Secretary of Defense also concluded that it was appropriate to create a process that would enable service members to take steps to transition gender while serving."

Section 3A is what’s relevant (bold emphasis added):

"The Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard, shall, after consultation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff about how best to implement this policy and consistent with applicable law, take all necessary steps to ensure that all directives, orders, regulations, and policies of their respective departments are consistent with this order. These steps shall include establishing a process by which transgender service members may transition gender while serving, along with any further steps that the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security deem appropriate to advance the policy described in section 1 of this order."

Indeed the same pattern follows from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's press release that day. Both this and the EO promise to deliver policy and procedure results within a 60 day turnaround.

The clincher is a VA email to employees, according to the Washington Examiner. McDonough flat-out said: "Perform an assessment of the necessary steps to eliminate the exclusion of 'gender alteration' (gender affirmation surgery) in the medical benefits package."

The outlet interviewed Rep. Jim Banks about the issue. While he's supportive of transgendered people in the military, he's against taxpayer dollars paying for gender transition surgeries. Lt. General Thomas Spoehr said "someone has to pick up the slack while you are gone" in response to the Biden EO. As it reads, General Spoehr believes it allows any service member can get up and leave in the middle of a conflict, and leave the rest of a military unit hanging in the wind.