--- title: John McCain Supports Transgender Military Protections Bill description: John McCain is co-sponsoring a bill in support of transgender soldiers just over a month after President Trump announced a ban canonical: https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-15T20:51:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:27:17.996Z article:section: Politics og:title: John McCain Is Co-Sponsoring a Bill to Block Trump's Transgender Ban og:description: The proposed legislation is a bipartisan effort og:url: https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6f29a91553e30f5/6988dc44e76ad227b562f021/john-mccain-italy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3568 og:image:height: 2007 og:image:alt: Key Speakers At The Ambrosetti Forum og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John McCain Is Co-Sponsoring a Bill to Block Trump's Transgender Ban twitter:description: The proposed legislation is a bipartisan effort twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6f29a91553e30f5/6988dc44e76ad227b562f021/john-mccain-italy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain Is Co-Sponsoring a Bill to Block President Trump's Transgender Military Ban > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 15, 2017 8:51 PM UTC  Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, leaves after a session during the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017. Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, leaves after a session during the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 15, 2017 8:51 PM UTC Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona is co-sponsoring a new bill in support of transgender people serving in the military after President Donald Trump [announced his transgender ban in July.](http://time.com/4875089/transgender-troops-trump-backfire/) The bipartisan bill, which is also sponsored by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) seeks to prevent the Department of Defense (DOD) from removing current service members solely on the basis of their gender identity. “When less than one percent of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country,” McCain [said in a statement.](https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/senators-mccain-gillibrand-collins-reed-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-protect-transgender-service-members) “Any member of the military who meets the medical and readiness standards should be allowed to serve — including those who are transgender.” “The Senate Armed Services Committee will review the results of the DOD study on accession and will continue to work closely with our military leaders on any policy changes as we conduct oversight on this important issue,” McCain, who remains chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee [despite battling brain cancer](http://time.com/4894674/john-mccain-cancer-thank-you-video/), added. The proposed legislation does not outright guarantee the enlistment of transgender individuals who wish to serve in the military going forward, but it does require Defense Secretary James Mattis to conduct a study on the “future of recruitment,” as McCain put it in a tweet, as well as “express a sense of Congress that individuals who are qualified and can meet the standards to serve in the military should be eligible to serve,” according to a press release. > [](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/908786026650521606) Trump’s ban was met with swift condemnation from many in Congress, along with military leaders. In August, 56 officers from the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard [signed a letter](http://time.com/4882553/transgender-military-ban-generals-admirals-letter/) speaking out against the order. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/"},"headline":"John McCain Is Co-Sponsoring a Bill to Block President Trump's Transgender Military Ban","datePublished":"2017-09-15T20:51:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:27:17.996Z","description":"The proposed legislation is a bipartisan effort","url":"https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/","keywords":["Senate","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6f29a91553e30f5/6988dc44e76ad227b562f021/john-mccain-italy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6f29a91553e30f5/6988dc44e76ad227b562f021/john-mccain-italy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The Ambrosetti Forum","caption":"Key Speakers At The Ambrosetti Forum","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4944393/john-mccain-transgender-ban-bill/","name":"John McCain Is Co-Sponsoring a Bill to Block President Trump's Transgender Military Ban"}}]}] ```