Trump’s Ban on Transgender people in the military is to go into effect starting on April 12th.
The current version of the law will allow for the military to ban new transgender recruits from joining the military, as well as allowing for the discharge of members in need of hormone treatment and/or surgery.
The case against the ban is still open, however, and the DC Court of Appeals may still decide against the ban. Currently they have only allowed for the injunctions to be lifted.
The House failed to override President Trump’s Veto, voting 248-181, with 14 Republicans joining all Democrats [1], yet falling 38 votes short of the required 2/3 majority needed to pass [2].
Due to this, the Department of Defense has stated that they’ve procured $1 Billion for the border fencing.
Even though the Pentagon never informed Congress of their allocation, which is required to consult with them before any reallocation of funding could be performed, the Defense Secretary, Patrick Shanahan, stated that this process can be skipped in the case of an Emergency Deceleration by the President [3].
Sources
Source 2: https://www.apnews.com/056c0ce531a34b999a6a50179e2265ad
Beginning on February 26th, the House passed a measure to overturn Trump’s Emergency Declaration, voting 245-182, just 11 days after the declaration was made [1].
Eventually, the measure was moved to the Senate, where on March 14th, 12 Republicans voted for the measure to be moved forward, with a vote of 59-41, passing the Senate but not within a veto-proof majority [2].
From there, Trump announced his intentions of Vetoing the measure, and did so the following day [3].
Now, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, is expected to challenge his Veto in the House, publicly stating that she’d do so by having an override vote take place on March 26th [4].
In this instance, Nancy Pelosi’s vote on March 26th is unlikely to pass, as a Supermajority of 2/3 is needed to override a Presidential Veto, meaning 67 members of the Senate or 290 members of the House, which neither Congressional House met during the vote.
The Emergency on the Southern Border, however, isn’t an emergency at all [5], and will inevitably be forgotten after Trump leaves office.
There is a long process needed to get the land on the southern border, requiring Eminent Domain utilization by the Federal Government, in which the government can seize private land for their own use. This was done during the W. Bush and Obama Presidencies to allow for the Secure Fence Act, against the wishes of many who owned the land, which put the current Border Fence we have lining the most accessible portions of the United State’s Southern Border that is there today [6].
Sources
Source 1: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431722-house-votes-to-overturn-trump-emergency-declaration
Source 3: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/us/politics/trump-veto-national-emergency.html
Source 5: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/13/donald-trump-national-emergency-border-225781
The Senate has voted to end support of the Saudi’s coalition in the war in Yemen, for the first time invoking the War Powers Resolution to stop a foreign conflict.
The Trump White House has threatened to veto the resolution, which passed the Senate 54-46, a number that is not enough to override a veto, meaning there is still an uphill battle to ensure it’s passage.
This is not the first time that the Senate has passed a bill to end the US’ involvement in Yemen, having taken a vote and passing it in December before it was blocked from being voted on in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives [1].
This is a positive move by the United States, not just for removing their support of the Saudi family who killed Jamal Khashoggi [2], focusing on moving away from the need to be involved in every global conflict via military might.
In the words of the former Deputy and Acting Secretary of State Bill Burns, who served during both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, from his book (as summarized by Tommy Vietor of Pod Save the World):
Foreign Service Examiner – “What’s the biggest challenge in American Foreign Policy Today”
Bill Burns – “I think it’s us. After Vietnam (and now Iraq and the Middle East) I think we need to do a better job of determining what we can solve, and what we can manage.” [3]
Sources
Source 1: https://www.apnews.com/784139fedb1f4940bc39f33b5ffa2930
The Defense Department has signed a memo stating that it is moving forward with a plan to stop Transgender individuals from serving in the military if they require hormone treatments or surgery for transition.
The plan is expected to take effect on April 12th, but critics point out that the Pentagon’s own studies contradict the need for this policy:
A 2016 Pentagon-commissioned study found that any impact on cost or military readiness from having transgender troops would be marginal. It estimated there were around 2,450 transgender troops at the time [1].
The policy was allowed when the new Supreme Court allowed the ban to take place, overruling the ruling by the lower-courts [2].
Sources
Source 2: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/22/politics/scotus-transgender-ban/index.html
Truthful not Neutral 