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[GK86]

Link.

After a week sparring with his attorney general and steaming over the Russia investigation consuming his agenda, President Donald Trump was closing in on an important win.

House Republicans were planning to pass a spending bill stacked with his campaign promises, including money to build his border wall with Mexico.

But an internal House Republican fight over transgender troops was threatening to blow up the bill. And House GOP insiders feared they might not have the votes to pass the legislation because defense hawks wanted a ban on Pentagon-funded sex reassignment operations — something GOP leaders wouldn’t give them.

They turned to Trump, who didn’t hesitate. In the flash of a tweet, he announced that transgender troops would be banned altogether.

Trump’s sudden decision was, in part, a last-ditch attempt to save a House proposal full of his campaign promises that was on the verge of defeat, numerous congressional and White House sources said.

“There are several members of the conference who feel this really needs to be addressed,” senior House Appropriations Committee member Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) said Tuesday. “This isn’t about the transgender issue; it’s about the taxpayer dollars going to pay for the surgery out of the defense budget.”

That’s why House lawmakers took the matter to the Trump administration. And when Defense Secretary James Mattis refused to immediately upend the policy, they went straight to the White House. Trump — never one for political correctness — was all too happy to oblige.

The president’s directive, of course, took the House issue a step beyond paying for gender reassignment surgery and other medical treatment. House Republicans were never debating expelling all transgender troops from the military.

“This is like someone told the White House to light a candle on the table and the WH set the whole table on fire,” a senior House Republican aide said in an email. The source said that although GOP leaders asked the White House for help on the taxpayer matter specifically, they weren’t expecting — and got no heads up on — Trump’s far-reaching directive.

The announcement, multiple sources said, did not sit well with Mattis, who appeared to be trying to avoid the matter in recent weeks. An extensive Defense Department review of the policy was already underway, but a decision wasn’t expected for months.

Insiders said Mattis felt there was no need to rush upending the policy, arguing the Pentagon needed time to study the issue. Its decision would affect at least 2,450 transgender active-military personnel, according to a Rand report — though military LGBT activist groups say as many as 15,000 soldiers fall into that category.

 

[Mysterious]

Wow, so this is something even GOP leaders don't want?

 

[linkboy]

It was posted in the thread this morning and it really pissed me off.

 

[smurfx]

wonder how low he will continue to go to score some political wins. we got over 3 years left of this garbage.

 

[antonz]

These fuckers are never going to learn.

You cannot treat Trump like every other President. He is a 2 year old with his hand on the nuclear button in regard to any decision making. Funding issue could threaten wall. BAN THEM ALL.

Treat him like the mentally impaired chimp that he is when you want to do politics.

 

[disappeared]

Ostracizing one group just to ostracize another. And on and on and on.

Christ almighty, the nerve of that fat prick.

 

[lenovox1]

wonder how low he will continue to go to score some political wins. we got over 3 years left of this garbage.

It seems like he doesn't care about anything or anyone besides his own ego. So we can go much much lower.

 

[jb1234]

More and more, Mattis comes across as the only sane one there.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Dirty fuck

 

[spazchicken]

This is just evil to the core.

 

[BeforeU]

Everday a new low. How is this even possible

 

[BronsonLee]

My understanding of this is that Mattis wasn't entirely against it, but he didn't want to do it immediately like they wanted

 

[HollowCentral]

The fact that his first reaction was not to look at the situation calmly and try to figure out a solution that wouldn't make him look like an asshole, but was instead to say "Fuck it" and TWEET IT OUT pisses me off to no end. On top of it, it's just making his wall look even more ridiculous, because he sacrificed the fellowship of almost certainly an entire group of people in order to build something that would put down another group of people.

 

[linkboy]

My understanding of this is that Mattis wasn't entirely against it, but he didn't want to do it immediately like they wanted

Mattis has been taking a wait and see approach on this subject.

Seeing as he's actually a military man, he wants to know how it will impact the entire military before giving it the full OK.

 

[dankir]

So this is 6 million dollars out of the 22 billion he needs? Fucking moron.

 

[BocoDragon]

My understanding of this is that Mattis wasn't entirely against it, but he didn't want to do it immediately like they wanted

I'm sure Mattis didn't want the military to pay for gender re-assignment. But I doubt he's on board with making a big deal about banning transgender troops.

 

[Slime]

Kick the people you hate out of the military so you can fund a big symbol of hate and keep those other people you hate out of the country.

Trump has nothing to offer but hate.

 

[BronsonLee]

Mattis has been taking a wait and see approach on this subject.

Seeing as he's actually a military man, he wants to know how it will impact the entire military before giving it the full OK.

I'm sure Mattis didn't want the military to pay for gender re-assignment. But I doubt he's on board with making a big deal about banning transgender troops.

That's what I'm taking away from most of this too

The only person who thought expelling all trans people from the military was a good idea was the dipshit on the Twitter Machine

I don't see how this lasts, Mattis has given him pushback before and Trump just put a big goddamn spotlight on him

 

[disappeared]

So this is 6 million dollars out of the 22 billion he needs? Fucking moron.

It's a start!

The biggest start!

You're not gonna believe the starts we're making!

 

[Shauni]

The amount of possible money is like 2% of the estimate for what the wall could cost. Sold them out for less than 2%.

 

[Slime]

It's a start!

The biggest start!

You're not gonna believe the starts we're making!

Eventually we will start to get something done!

 

[KSweeley]

Trump has essentially ripped up guidelines that was in the works "for several years":

Trump's ban on transgender service members throws into doubt the career of Ensign Ali Mayberry, a 2015 Naval Academy graduate whose story was chronicled by The Capital last year. She told Navy officials she was transgender after graduating, and was assigned to the academy while the Pentagon finished new guidelines in the works for several years.

 

[Dishwalla]

Land of the free.

 

[Shadow Puppetry]

A useless wall which can easily be bypassed by planes, buses or boats plus it's not like they can dig under or buy ropes that are much longer to go down at the top.

 

[Rubenov]

Basically, discriminate now so you can discriminate more later.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

This is the political version of that story where the lady tried to kill a bug with fire and burned down her apartment building.

 

[Ms.Galaxy]

He literally just, on a whim, ostracized an entire group of people who are willingly risking their lives for their nation.... for a useless stupid wall that will never be built.

This is beyond disgusting.

 

[Hugstable]

Using hate to fund hate


Please let this nightmare of a presidency end.

fuck

 

[Ether_Snake]

Are they saying you can join after surgery?

edit: Guess not.

 

[Turbo Killer]

So the whole issue was they didn't want to use defense budget on surgery? I mean they just spent billions on an aircraft carrier when our country is already ahead of every fucking country on the planet military wise.

 

[yanipheonu]

The boondoggle that keeps boondoggling.

 

[exmachina64]

Everday a new low. How is this even possible

Well, when you have a moron as your president...

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

“This is like someone told the White House to light a candle on the table and the WH set the whole table on fire,” a senior House Republican aide said in an email.

Sums up his extreme presidency so far.

 

[Shauni]

So the whole issue was they didn't want to use defense budget on surgery? I mean they just spent billions on an aircraft carrier when our country is already ahead of every fucking country on the planet military wise.

That's not what it's about, that's just that smokescreen

 

[Sojgat]

I don't even know what to say anymore. My responses to every new Trump thread have just devolved into a string of insults.

 

[Elwood Blues]

But if you asked him he would still tell you Mexico is going to pay for it.

 

[Kthulhu]

I didn't realize you could be so stupid that you couldn't even discriminate properly. Trump surprises me more and more every day.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

So the President just threw a minority group under the bus to get political points...

 

[Shauni]

So the President just threw a minority group under the bus to get political points...

Kind of, but in a way that kind of killed the points he may have actually gained.

 

[JHoNNy1OoO]

So the President just threw a minority group under the bus to get political points...

But he held up that rainbow flag during the campaign. You're telling me he didn't really give a shit?

 

[Zolo]

So the President just threw a minority group under the bus to get political points...

He was going to do it at some point due to Obama allowing it. This was a convenient reason for him to go ahead.

 

[Kthulhu]

So the President just threw a minority group under the bus to get political points...

You say that like it's the first time he's done it. It isn't even the first time he's done it to the LGBT community.

 

[AusRoachman]

I always assumed its because he watched some random fox news show who mentioned obama and transgender in the same sentence.

 

[ponpo]

Maybe Trump just feels all LGBT people are too precious to risk in combat.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I don't even know what to say anymore. My responses to every new Trump thread have just devolved into a string of insults.

Hahaha dear god, when you said this I re members my ownn posts in trump threads and its the same, basically devolved into insults,i think trump is making us dumber.

 

[PopeReal]

But a vote for Trump wasn't a vote for hate. Not necessarily. So I am told.

 

[Whompa02]

Those fuckers spend ten times more on viagra than on transgender operations and this fuck goes all out on transgender people all together.

On top of that, they didn't even need to do a full ban!!! Just the operation funding.

 

[Wilsongt]

Yeah, Republicans in the House can go and get fucked for all I care.

Pentagon won't give then what they want, so they go whining to Daddy Trump.

 

[Media]

Why can't we like, fix our Bridges and roads before we build a stupid fucking useless wall.

Oh right, the GOP are in charge.

 

[exmachina64]

But a vote for Trump wasn't a vote for hate. Not necessarily. So I am told.

A vote for Trump didn't mean you agree with everything he says or does, but a vote for Hillary meant FUCK YOU, SHE'S GOING TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!

Those fuckers spend ten times more on viagra than on transgender operations and this fuck goes all out on transgender people all together.

On top of that, they didn't even need to do a full ban!!! Just the operation funding.

Trump doesn't do anything halfway.