Anti-Trans Policy Pushed by Project 2025 Passes Dem-Controlled Senate Committee

The United States Senate’s committee report for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which provides funding for the U.S. Military, was uploaded onto the Senate Armed Services Committee website Monday night. In it, two anti-transgender “riders” were included through an amendment process with the support of independent Senator Joe Manchin, who caucuses with Democrats, while a third was defeated; many more Democrats then voted to approve the full bill committee report. The riders targeting transgender service members are a key tenet of Project 2025, a series of proposals to radically change the United States Government put forward by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. The inclusion of these riders marks a major milestone; previously, the Senate was a roadblock for such provisions, as Democrats in the Senate preferred to stick to “clean” bills. Now, transgender care for military service members and their dependents are under more threat than ever before.

The document, uploaded Monday night, contains the committee report for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, including key amendment votes on what would be included in the Senate’s version. In it, two policies appeared to pass the Democratic Senate Committee: a policy barring public funding from being used to “perform or facilitate sex change surgeries” in the Department of Defense. The second would bar Tricare, the military health insurance plan, from covering any gender-affirming care for minor dependents. Both of these amendments were passed with Senator Joe Manchin’s support.

You can see the committee amendment reports here:

The amendments are key parts of Project 2025, a policy document put forward by the Heritage Foundation aimed at radically transforming the United States government. Project 2025 seeks to concentrate power into the hands of the President and implement ultra-conservative policies across various domains, including reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and more. The initiative has drawn support from over 110 conservative organizations and former Trump officials.

The Heritage Foundation’s project includes a comprehensive policy guide titled “Mandate for Leadership,” which outlines conservative goals for each federal agency. The guide aims to gut access to contraception, reinstate the Comstock Act to ban abortion information by mail, and restructure Medicaid to defund providers of reproductive health services. The plan also promotes restricting gender-affirming care and rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” said the group’s leader in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision giving Trump criminal immunity.

The project’s plans for the military include several provisions targeting transgender individuals. One such provision, found on page 103 of the Project 2025 “Mandate for Leadership” document, states, “Those with gender dysphoria should be expelled from military service.” Another provision on page 104 seeks to “reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service, and the use of public monies for transgender surgeries or to facilitate abortion for service members should be ended.” These amendments effectively implement the key tenets of Project 2025.

The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which included these anti-trans policy riders, was reported favorably out of committee in a bipartisan manner. Only Senators Jack Reed, Elizabeth Warren, and Tom Cotton voted against favorably reporting the bill. The inclusion of these provisions in the Senate means that the House and Senate versions will not be in conflict should the full Senate pass this bill, which is viewed as a “must pass” piece of legislation. Last year, the Senate version of the NDAA reported out of committee did not include any such riders, allowing them to die when the House and Senate negotiated over differences in the separate bills.

Previously, President Biden announced stark opposition to riders targeting transgender people. However, a recent set of statements by the President indicated that he was wavering on at least some forms of gender-affirming care for youth, such as surgeries. The administration also released a statement calling for “mental healthcare” for trans youth, leaving out gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers, though that statement was later revised and clarified. This caused many transgender critics of the policy to point out that it could signal weakness on the issue and indicate that the issue is a potential place for compromise for more conservative Democrats. These critics included major LGBTQ+ organizations and a dozen transgender and nonbinary legislators. Now, days after the statements were released, it appears that the first major compromise targeting transgender people may be underway.

In a statement about the riders, President of the Human Rights Campaign, Kelley Robinson, said, “Everyone deserves medically necessary, best practice healthcare without politicians standing in the way. That includes those who serve their country bravely and their families. These attempts to hijack the National Defense Authorization Act are outrageous and will cause real world harm. The Senate should reject these provisions and get back to ensuring those who serve their country are repaid with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

The bill must pass by late September to meet the October 1 deadline to keep the military funded.

This piece was republished with permission from Erin In The Morning.