Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness
Bans transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military, reversing Biden-era policies. Directs the Department of Defense to revise policies to exclude individuals who identify with a gender different from their biological sex, citing concerns about unit cohesion and readiness. This is a companion to EO 14168 (biological sex definitions).
Section by Section
What each section does, and how they differ.
Directs Department of Defense and Coast Guard to establish military service standards based on gender dysphoria constraints inconsistent with high readiness, and bars pronoun usage not reflecting sex.
Policy establishes that standards for military readiness, cohesion, and integrity are inconsistent with medical and surgical constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.
Gender ideology definitions refer to the same definitions in the executive order on biological sex from January 20, 2025.
Secretary of Defense must update medical standards for military service, issue guidance ending pronoun usage, and Secretary of Homeland Security must make parallel changes for Coast Guard.
Armed Forces shall not allow males to use female facilities or females to use male facilities for sleeping, changing, or bathing absent extraordinary operational necessity.
Executive Order 14004 on enabling transgender military service is revoked, and all related policies shall be rescinded as inconsistent with this order.
Standard boilerplate: preserves existing agency authority, conditions the order on appropriations, and creates no enforceable private rights.
Linked Court Cases (6)
***Talbott v. United States***, No. 1:25-cv-00240 (D.D.C.) -- Lead D.C. case. Judge Reyes issued a nationwide PI March 18, 2025, calling the policy "soaked in animus and dripping with pretext." On appeal at D.C. Circuit; oral argument January 2026.
***Shilling v. United States***, No. 2:25-cv-00241 (W.D. Wash.) -- Parallel 9th Circuit case. SCOTUS allowed the ban to take effect during litigation with no reasoning.
Orr v. Trump
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Video Coverage (4)
Related Executive Orders
Same subject matter
Litigation Summary
***Talbott v. United States***, No. 1:25-cv-00240 (D.D.C.) -- Lead D.C. case. Judge Reyes issued a nationwide PI March 18, 2025, calling the policy "soaked in animus and dripping with pretext." On appeal at D.C. Circuit; oral argument January 2026.; ***Shilling v. United States***, No. 2:25-cv-00241 (W.D. Wash.) -- Parallel 9th Circuit case. SCOTUS allowed the ban to take effect during litigation with no reasoning.; Air Force memo (Aug. 14, 2025) requiring transgender service members to attend their own separation hearings in birth-sex uniform produced a separate due-process flashpoint.