Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness
The order declares that individuals with gender dysphoria are incompatible with military service, reverses a 2021 executive order that had opened the military to transgender service members, and directs the Department of Defense to update medical standards, end use of non-biological pronouns, and segregate shared facilities by biological sex.
It immediately resets a core personnel policy affecting every branch of the Armed Forces, completing the rescission of the Biden-era policy that had enabled transgender Americans to serve openly.
What this order does
What it orders
The order establishes a policy that gender dysphoria is medically and psychologically incompatible with the rigorous standards required for military service. It directs the Secretary of Defense to update two standing DoD medical-standards instructions to reflect this policy within 60 days, promptly issue directives ending the use of pronouns that do not correspond to a service member's biological sex, and within 30 days produce an implementation plan and submit a summary report to the President through the National Security Advisor. It also immediately prohibits males from using facilities designated for females and vice versa, absent an extraordinary operational necessity.
The order implements the earlier rescission of Executive Order 14004 (2021), which had enabled all qualified Americans to serve regardless of gender identity, directing the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security (for the Coast Guard) to rescind all policies issued under that order to the extent they conflict with this one. A severability clause preserves the order's remaining provisions if any section is invalidated.
Who it affects
Current and prospective military service members who identify as transgender, including those currently serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. Recruiting applicants with a history of gender dysphoria are also directly affected, as are military medical personnel administering updated fitness standards.
Why it matters
Transgender individuals currently serving face discharge or reclassification, and new applicants with gender dysphoria will be disqualified from enlistment or commissioning. Service members will no longer be permitted to use pronouns or facilities corresponding to a gender identity other than their biological sex.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The implementation arc runs in two tracks. In the first 30 days, the Secretary of Defense must identify all additional steps, issue initial guidance, and submit a report to the President through the National Security Advisor. By 60 days, updated medical-standards instructions must be published. The Secretary of Homeland Security must issue Coast Guard-specific guidance within 30 days of each corresponding DoD update, directive, or guidance document — meaning the DHS clock does not start until DoD acts. The facility-use prohibition and the pronoun-use directive take effect on the order's own terms without waiting for the updated instructions.
Actions and deadlines
- Identify all additional steps and issue guidance necessary to fully implement the order
- Submit a report to the President summarizing implementation steps, through the National Security Advisor
- Update DoDI 6130.03 Volume 1 and Volume 2 medical standards to reflect the order's purpose and policy
- Issue directives ending invented and identification-based pronoun usage across the Department of Defense
- Rescind all policies, directives, and guidance issued under EO 14004 that conflict with this order
- Secretary of Homeland Security to issue Coast Guard updates, directives, and guidance consistent with DoD actions
Agencies directed to act
Authority and reach
What this order changes
Revokes Executive Order 14004