Equality Caucus Condemns House Passage of NDAA

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, released the following statement after the House passed the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains a ban on medically-necessary care for servicemembers’ transgender dependents:

“Our servicemembers should be focusing on keeping our nation safe, not worrying if Congress will let their child get the healthcare that their parents, doctors, and mental health professionals agree they need,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “Speaker Johnson is playing political games with the health of our servicemembers’ children by inserting himself into private medical decisions and overriding families’ choices—and our servicemembers and their children will pay the price.”
 

BACKGROUND
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, as passed by the House today, includes a provision (Sec. 708) that would result in TRICARE no longer offering gender-affirming care to servicemembers’ transgender children under 18. The same treatments would still be allowed for cisgender children under 18.

Servicemembers deserve to be able to provide their transgender children with the healthcare necessary to promote their children’s health and wellbeing. Every major medical and mental health association in the U.S., representing more than 1.3 million U.S. doctors, supports providing this medically necessary, evidence-based care for transgender people. This includes the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Endocrine Society, among other organizations.