Pete Hegseth wants trans troops gone. U.S. Navy & USMC review boards keep finding reasons to keep them

The Pentagon wants transgender troops out. Some military officers reviewing their cases have concluded they should stay.Navy and Marine Corps separation boards have voted to retain transgender service members in nine of 12 cases, The New York Times reported Friday, revealing resistance within the administrative machinery carrying out President Donald Trump’s military ban. Officers reviewing individual service records are reaching conclusions that conflict with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s blanket campaign to remove them.A favorable vote does not guarantee a future in uniform. But the decisions expose a tension at the center of the policy. The administration says transgender service is incompatible with military readiness; some officers evaluating those troops want to keep them.Related: Decorated transgender troops endure closed-door hearings with foregone conclusions in Pentagon purgeMarine Staff Sgt. Damien Contreras received one of those votes. According to The Times, his board reviewed his record as a supply and logistics specialist, including three overseas deployments, and recommended retaining him.“You have war fighters looking at war fighters,” Contreras told the newspaper.The outcomes differ sharply across the services. The Times reported that Army boards overwhelmingly recommended discharge, while Air Force boards did so in every known case reviewed.Related: Trans service members have always been part of U.S. historyThe Pentagon narrowed the path to stayingThe decisions follow the Pentagon’s move to restrict the boards' independence in hearing these cases.The Associated Press reported last year that an October 2025 memorandum allowed commanders to override board decisions permitting transgender troops to remain. An earlier Air Force directive required boards to recommend separation for service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.The Pentagon also required transgender troops appearing before boards to comply with uniform and grooming standa