House Republicans are planning to introduce a bill that would make President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military service permanent and expand it. The legislation, drafted by Alabama U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, would not only implement the ban through federal law but also require the discharge of any currently serving trans troops and restrict access to national security careers after service.
The “Readiness Over Wokeness Act,” first reported by Fox News Digital, targets anyone with a current or past diagnosis of gender dysphoria, anyone who has received gender-affirming care such as hormone therapy or surgery, or anyone who exhibits symptoms “consistent with” gender dysphoria. The bill mandates the administrative separation of all people to whom the policy applies across the armed forces.
It also authorizes the Department of Defense to reinvestigate any transgender veteran who held a security clearance at the time of discharge and to revoke their eligibility unless they submit to re-review. If they decline—or if they no longer serve in a role requiring clearance—their access would be automatically revoked.
Advocacy groups say the legislation would codify one of the most extreme anti-trans policies ever proposed by Congress. Cathy Marcello, interim executive director of the Modern Military Association of America, called it “a continuation of relentless attacks on transgender Americans who have done nothing wrong other than have the audacity to exist.” She said the bill is particularly cruel given that discharges have already begun under Trump’s executive order, and it seeks to write discrimination into law even before the courts can rule on the current purge.
Marcello also pushed back on Moore’s suggestion that trans troops enlist to access care and then leave. “This is not only false but insults the dignity and sacrifice of the thousands of transgender Americans who serve,” she said, noting that most have served 10 to 20 years and meet all military standards.
SPARTA Pride, a nonpartisan organization of transgender troops, said the bill ignores reality. “Transgender Americans have served openly and honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces for nearly a decade,” the group said, adding that thousands are currently serving in critical roles. They warned that “no policy will ever erase transgender Americans’ contribution to history, warfighting, or military excellence.”
Brandon Wolf, national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, said the bill is nothing less than an attack on military readiness. He said transgender service members have earned their place through hard work and sacrifice and called the bill “an affront to courageous servicemembers, their families, and the country they serve.” Attempts to strip them of their jobs, he said, “is discrimination. Period.”
The legislation follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to lift a nationwide injunction in Shilling v. United States, a case challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transgender people’s service. The decision allowed Trump’s ban to take immediate effect. That ruling has already resulted in the Pentagon halting gender-affirming care and preparing to discharge transgender service members who do not resign by June 6.
D.C. federal district judge Ana Reyes ruled in a separate case, Talbott v. United States, that the ban is “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.”
Democratic California U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said the bill is part of a hate-fueled effort to drive trans service members out of the military. He said transgender people serve in critical roles and meet the same standards as their cisgender counterparts, and that suggesting otherwise “is a lie used to justify a hate-fueled campaign to kick these brave servicemembers out of the military.”
He added that this is “the same fearmongering we saw by the last defenders of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Takano said the Equality Caucus is committed to ensuring that Trump’s “unconstitutional” ban is never written into law and that “explicit long-term protections for trans servicemembers are signed into law.”