The U.S. Marine Corps announced Friday that transgender troops whose service contract is set to expire will no longer be able to apply for extension waivers while they argue their case to continue serving before a military separation board.
Through an administrative message, the service revoked a previous policy that could grant Marines undergoing the involuntary separation process eligibility to remain in the military before a separation board made its final decision.
“The authority to grant service extensions to Marines undergoing involuntary
administrative separation processing under the purview of reference (a) is rescinded,” the message said.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 27, 2025, expelling transgender service members from the military based on the administration’s argument that they could not “satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
A Pentagon memo published soon after urged transgender service members to voluntarily separate under the new policy, incentivizing their departure by offering twice the amount of pay they would receive through involuntary separation pay.
Transgender troops previously told Military Times that the separation process was far from voluntary and that they were being forcibly kicked out because of their gender identity.
Service members who opted out of voluntary separation entered into the involuntary separation process and were allowed the opportunity to argue for their retention before a military board.
The New York Times reported on Oct. 23 that some boards had begun to rebuke the Trump administration’s sweeping exclusionary edict and vote to retain transgender service members.
Once a service member is voted to be retained by a board, Navy Secretary Hung Cao must sign off to make the retention official.
But for service members whose service contract was set to expire before the board made its decision, and thus before the Navy Secretary could sign off on it, an extension waiver was previously offered that allowed them to continue serving while their retention was approved.
The new Marine Corps policy established Friday ends the possibility of this extension and means some service members who otherwise would be allowed to continue serving will instead be kicked out of the military.
Staff Sgt. Damien Contreras, whom The New York Times profiled in its piece about the changing tides of separation boards, is set to be a casualty of the new policy.
Contreras opted for involuntary separation after the transgender military ban went into effect and argued his case before a military separation board on Aug. 28.
He was informed the following day that the Marine Corps had elected to retain his service.
After roughly ten years in the Marine Corps, Contreras service contract was set to expire on Nov. 7.
So not long after, Contreras submitted an application for an extension waiver to the Marine Corps’ Manpower and Reserve Affairs office, while he awaited the final sign-off from Cao that would allow him to remain in the military.
The Manpower office officially received his application on Oct. 14, Contreras said.
The goal was to re-up his contract afterward, continue serving for at least another decade and retire as a Marine.
But each time Contreras, his attorney or his chain of command would check in with the Marine Corps’ Manpower and Reserve Affairs office, they were told the paperwork was processing and not approved yet.
This Friday, Contreras saw the new policy banning extension waivers.
Less than 30 minutes later, he received an email from his attorney, with a forwarded email from the Manpower and Reserve Affairs office that contained a denied request for an extension waiver.
Barring other intervention, Contreras will be removed from the military on Friday, despite his desire to remain.
“It’s just another brick wall that’s been put up to find a new way to force us out faster,” Contreras said.
Transgender service members are currently suing the U.S. military under Talbott v. USA for discrimination in an attempt to halt the ban and restore troops’ rights to remain in the military.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on June 1 that the Pentagon’s transgender military ban was unlawful, upholding a previous preliminary injunction that sought to allow transgender service members to continue serving.
Several weeks later, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion to certify Talbott v. USA as a class action lawsuit.
Once the preliminary injunction was mandated, a class action certification would mean all transgender service members would receive the same protections as the plaintiffs in Talbott v. USA and allow all currently serving transgender service members to remain in the military.
Despite these developments, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has not technically mandated the preliminary injunction yet, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has not officially certified Talbott v. USA as a class action lawsuit.
The Trump administration’s transgender military ban is thus still in effect.
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