INTERVIEW – LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER – a CIA trained former senior intelligence officer and the New York Times best-selling author of ” Operation Dark Heart.” @T_S_P_O_O_K_Y
- Supreme Court Lets Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Take Effect. A divided U.S. Supreme Court cleared President Donald Trump’s administration to start barring most transgender people from serving in the armed forces. The justices, voting 5-4 Tuesday, put on hold lower court decisions that had blocked the administration’s planned ban from taking effect. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. Neither side provided any explanation. The court stopped short of agreeing to hear arguments on an expedited basis, as the administration sought. But by letting the ban take effect, the court gave the administration a major victory and hinted the justices ultimately will uphold the restrictions. “We are pleased the Supreme Court granted stays in these cases, clearing the way for the policy to go into effect while litigation continues,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in an emailed statement. “Due to lower courts issuing nationwide injunctions, our military had been forced to maintain a prior policy that poses a risk to military effectiveness and lethality for over a year.” Transgender troops have been serving openly since June 2016, when President Barack Obama’s administration began lifting a longstanding prohibition. Opponents of the ban say reinstating it would violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
