An amendment to Congress’ annual defence bill that would legally ban trans people from serving in the United States military failed to pass on Tuesday, July 21. The measure was defeated by 217 votes to 212, with four Republicans, including Mike Lawler of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, James Moylan from Guam and Kimberlyn King-Hinds from the Northern Mariana Islands opposing it.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender people from the military on his seventh day in office in January 2025, but it was struck down by an appeals court in June 2026 in a 2-1 order. Still, Rep. Lauren Boebert proposed the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday.
“Republicans tried to codify Trump’s trans military ban into law, but my fellow members of the Congressional Equality Caucus and I put in countless hours of work in order to kill this amendment—and we were successful. I’m grateful for the bipartisan vote to defeat this discriminatory amendment,” said Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus Representative Mark Takano of California.
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However, two anti-trans amendments did successfully pass onto the National Defence Authorization Act, proposed by Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. One amendment seeks to ban the military health insurance plan TRICARE from covering certain gender-affirming care, including mental healthcare for servicemembers’ trans children.
The second amendment that made its way onto the bill seeks to ban trans athletes from participating in sports at military schools in the US. Schools funded by the Department of Defense Education Activity could subject students from as young as four to 18 to medical examinations to approve their participation in sports. Mace recently came in fifth place in the South Carolina governor’s race after running on an anti-trans campaign.
The Senate has yet to pass the NDAA. In the past, Democrats have had the opportunity to successfully strip some of the amendments from the yearly bill because it requires 60 votes to be approved instead of the traditional 50.
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