President Trump To Sign Three Executive Orders

US President Donald Trump is expected to sign three executive orders today that would reshape the military, including banning transgender service members from serving in the US armed forces, gutting the military’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs ,and reinstating service members with backpay who were discharged for refusing to get vaccinated from Covid-19.
The orders come as Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, was sworn in as secretary of defense on Saturday. Hegseth had before stated his plan to implement major cultural changes to the military, including ending DEI practices and removing “woke” service members.
The third executive order to be signed directs Hegseth to reinstate all active and reserve service members who were previously discharged for failing to get the Covid-19 vaccine. These officers will now be reinstated with their former rank and given back pay and benefits. However, the Pentagon had already rescinded the military’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate, allowing them to rejoin after Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the change. According to reports in October 2023 , only 43 of the more than 8,000 US service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated sought to rejoin eight months after the vaccine mandate was officially repealed.