Washington, D.C. – On June 5, 2025, U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined 21 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in urging Defense Secretary Hegseth to reverse course and not implement the Trump Administration’s un-American transgender military service ban. This policy would unfairly attack honorable servicemembers for who they are, compromise good order and discipline, and jeopardize our national security.
In the senators’ letter, the group demands answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including the specific data being used to back up the outrageous claim that transgender servicemembers are not in the “interests of national security,” and how much it will cost taxpayers to train the replacements for the perfectly capable transgender servicemembers being forced out of our military. After Senators Fetterman and Duckworth joined over a dozen of their colleagues in April pushing back against the ban, Secretary Hegseth’s response to their letter utterly failed to answer many of the questions that were asked about the short- and long-term impacts of the ban on servicemembers, readiness and national security, as well as taxpayer cost.
“Transgender servicemembers are not political props; they are patriotic Americans serving honorably,” wrote the senators. “Banning them from service will compromise good order and discipline, take deployable servicemembers out of the fight and create national security risks felt for years to come. Your recent implementation guidance makes matters worse.”
Additionally, the lawmakers admonished the Trump Administration’s latest guidance for implementing the ban, which requires military commanders to report servicemembers in their unit who they think display any signs of gender dysphoria.
“By stating that unit commanders ‘will direct’ reviews of the medical records of servicemembers under their command, despite the fact that they are not equipped to do so, you are requiring them to perform a duty—for purely political reasons—that is far outside the scope of their normal operational and warfighting-centric responsibilities,”continued the senators. “This burden is corrosive to unit cohesion, trust and the wellbeing of the servicemember and the commanders, who are being failed by their chain of command. This is not leadership.”
In conclusion, the lawmakers wrote: “Your policy will harm our armed services’ operational readiness and lethality, not only endangering Americans, but costing billions of dollars in taxpayer money in service of a political stunt meant to attack a small, extraordinarily brave group of people. Servicemembers’ privacy is being invaded, their livelihoods are being threatened and they are being used as a political tool to appeal to a minority of Americans.”
“Mr. Secretary, do not implement this ban.”
In addition to Senators Fetterman and Duckworth, the letter is co-signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The letter is endorsed by SPARTA, Modern Military Association of America, Minority Veterans of America and Out in National Security.
The full text of the letter is available here.
Senator Fetterman has been an outspoken critic of the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. When the ban was announced in February, he posted a video on X, calling on the Administration to immediately reverse course.
“I am unapologetically pro-military—I believe in a strong, lethal military. But I am also unapologetically pro the LGBTQ community,” said Senator Fetterman on X. “I am calling on President Trump to rescind this executive order—to allow and honor the inherent dignity of our servicemembers regardless of what their race is, what their gender is, who they love, or how they identify. A military that respects and supports all of its members is fully capable of being lethal and winning wars.”
