Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will have the authority to decide how to handle the openly transgender individuals currently serving in the military.
President Donald Trump has told the Pentagon to keep in place a ban on transgender individuals joining the military.
In the directive issued Friday, Trump did not say what should happen to the openly transgender people currently serving in the U. S. military. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis now has the authority to decide what happens to their careers, according to The Associated Press.
Last June, the Obama administration said transgender troops could serve openly. The policy change had a July 2017 deadline to determine whether transgender people would be allowed to enter the military as recruits.
Mattis delayed that decision until January 2018, and Trump has now extended it indefinitely, the AP said.
As far as transgender individuals currently serving, Mattis has six months to come up with a policy. He has to implement it by March 23,2018, the White House said.
