Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) on Monday called a Trump administration policy barring transgender people from serving openly in the military “appalling” and a wedge meant “to divide and distract” Americans.

“Earlier this month, I joined my neighbors across Delaware in celebrating the freedoms that define our nation, freedoms made possible by those who have worn the uniform,” McBride said in a floor speech on Monday. “It is appalling that while families gathered under fireworks to honor that sacrifice, the Trump administration was all too quietly forcing thousands of patriots out of military service.”

The Pentagon began removing openly transgender service members from the military in June, after the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Defense may enforce a policy that President Trump ordered in........

© The Hill