June 13, 2025

Merkley, Wyden Fight Back with Bill to Reverse Trump, Hegseth Ban on Transgender Service Members in the Military

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that they have cosponsored the Fit to Serve Act, a bill to support our military readiness and national security by prohibiting discrimination against transgender service members. The lawmakers’ bill comes as the Trump Administration is taking actions that undermine our national security and dehumanize the thousands of transgender service members who have made meaningful contributions to our armed forces.

“Service members sign up to protect our country with patriotism and bravery,” said Merkley. “Banning highly-skilled transgender service members endangers the safety and security of our nation and takes us backward in our march towards equality.”

“Drumming out Americans from military service because of rank prejudice undermines our national defense and is a cruel slap in the face to transgender people,” Wyden said. “This bill acts on the core principle that equal treatment of Americans based solely on their ability to do the job must guide the armed forces and any other walk of life.”   


In January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender individuals from joining and continuing to serve in the military. The Department of Defense (DoD) forced service members in active-duty to self-identify for voluntary separation by June 6, 2025; service members in the Reserves have until July 7, 2025. 

While the ban continues to be litigated in federal court, the Supreme Court has allowed the DoD to begin to implement the ban, threatening the careers of thousands of service members who serve as test pilots, Navy divers, intelligence analysts, weapons specialists, combat aviators, and other critical national security roles. The ban also risks wasting billions of taxpayer dollars invested in training these troops, many of whom have spent decades in the military, have been deployed multiple times, and have commanded large numbers of troops. 

Former Pentagon officials have testified that allowing transgender service members to openly serve “fosters openness and trust among team members, thereby enhancing unit cohesion” and that “transgender service members who meet the standards required for their positions serve effectively and contribute positively to unit readiness.”? 

To ensure the United States can continue to benefit from the service of transgender individuals who have raised their hand to defend and protect their country and meet the same rigorous standards as their peers, the Fit to Serve Act would prohibit the DoD from: 

  • Banning transgender service members from the military; 
  • Prescribing qualifications for service on the basis of gender identity; 
  • Denying necessary health care for service members on the basis of gender identity; 
  • Forcing a service member to serve in their sex assigned at birth; or 
  • Otherwise discriminating against service members on the basis of gender identity.

In addition to the Fit to Serve Act, Senators Merkley and Wyden have joined their Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reverse course and not implement the Trump Administration’s un-American transgender military service ban. Merkley also led, and Wyden joined, the No Place for LGBTQ+ Hate Act, which would ensure that Trump’s hateful anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders, including the ban on transgender service members, have no force or effect, and that no federal funds are used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out those executive orders.?

The Fit to Serve Act was led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). In addition to Merkley and Wyden, it is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). 

The full text of the Fit to Serve Act can be found by clicking here.

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