MORE BREAKING NEWS!

It's all another distraction.
Meanwhile, the Mueller Team keeps digging.

Meanwhile, in the real world...

Mattis: Transgender troops can keep serving pending study

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced Tuesday that transgender troops in the military would be allowed to continue serving pending the results of a study.

The announcement comes days after President Trump signed a memo barring transgender people from enlisting in the military while instructing Mattis to explore how to handle those currently serving in the armed forces.

"Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction," Mattis said in the statement reported by multiple media outlets Tuesday.

"In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place."

Trump announced in late July his plans to reverse an Obama-era policy that allowed transgender individuals to serve in the military.

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump tweeted at the time.

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

Mattis indicated in his statement Tuesday that the Pentagon would move to implement Trump's directive, which sparked backlash among Democrats and some Republicans.

The Defense Department "will carry out the president's policy direction, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security. As directed, we will develop a study and implementation plan, which will contain the steps that will promote military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law," Mattis said.

Mattis said he would establish "a panel of experts" from within the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide recommendations for implementing Trump's directive.

"Our focus must always be on what is best for the military's combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield," he said.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... ding-study

Thanks, oskar ~ I hope Mattis read/understood the Sen Tammy Duckworth quote that I paraphrased in post #49 above: she said she didn't care who rescued her when she was shot down, only that she be rescued ~

Sooz

Just more evidence that this government is being run by religious nutbars ...

Trump Announced His Transgender Military Ban Just Days After Tony Perkins Asked Him for It

Report: 'Within Days of the Meeting, Mr. Trump Took Action, Announcing His Transgender Military Ban'

On July 11 Family Research Council president Tony Perkins asked President Donald Trump to ban transgender service members from the U.S. military. Just 15 days later, on July 26, the president took to Twitter to announce he was instituting a total ban on all transgender military service members

A Sunday New York Times article detailing how the religious right has gained extraordinary access to and influence over the Trump administration refers to a six-hour meeting in July between the Christian conservatives and the White House.

At that meeting, "Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative religious lobbying group, broached the topic of banning transgender people from the military," reports the Times, citing an account from the Trump administration's religious advisor, Johnnie Moore.

"Some Republican members of Congress had been pushing for a similar prohibition, pointing to the medical costs of supporting transgender people. Again, within days of the meeting, Mr. Trump took action, announcing his transgender military ban."

That meeting (photo above), as NCRM reported at the time, was held July 11. it concluded with an Oval Office group prayer, with the conservative faith leaders laying their hands on the President. Here's a photo of that event in the Oval Office, which Moore posted to Twitter:



Pat Robertson's CBN religious news network posted a list of the attendees, which looks like a who's who of the anti-gay Christian right.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC); Pastor John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio; Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida; former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, California; Rodney Howard-Browne, senior pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church, Mike Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, and Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte and others.

President Trump had told the American people in his tweets that he had consulted with his generals before making the decision but that claim has been debunked. The Pentagon, according to multiple reports, is not happy about the ban and was not consulted or informed prior to the announcement. If implemented, Trump's possibly unconstitutional ban could lead to the eviction of up to 15,000 transgender troops.

As with his Muslim travel ban, several civil rights groups are suing the Trump administration in federal court in an attempt to block it.

Live links and additional pic at source

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.co ... him_for_it

Oopsie. More lying by Agent Orange.

Bipartisan senators getting "mavericky"! ~ ~ Sooz

McCain backs bill to block transgender troops ban
By Rebecca Kheel - 09/15/17 03:33 PM EDT

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is backing a bipartisan bill that would block President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

“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.

“Any member of the military who meets the medical and readiness standards should be allowed to serve — including those who are transgender," he said.

This is the latest show of resistance by McCain, who has frequently been a thorn in Trump's side. Most dramatically, McCain cast the deciding vote in July to kill the Senate's attempt at repealing Obamacare. As a Russia hawk, he's also blasted Trump's attempted rapprochement with Moscow, and as Armed Service chairman, has frequently criticized Trump for requesting lower-than-expected defense spending and taking months to develop an Afghanistan strategy.

McCain, committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.), committee member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the bill as stand-alone legislation on Friday.

Gillibrand and Collins earlier introduced the bill as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. But the amendment is not expected to get a vote amid a larger dispute of which amendments will make it to a vote.

Friday's bill would prohibit the Pentagon from involuntarily separating or denying the re-enlistment of currently serving transgender troops solely on the basis of gender identity.

It would also require Defense Secretary James Mattis to complete the study of accession — recruitment and training — of transgender recruits that he started before Trump announced the ban.

Finally, the bill would express the sense of Congress that individuals who are qualified and can meet the standards to serve in the military should be eligible to serve.

“Despite being denied a vote on my bipartisan amendment to defend our transgender service members, we are not giving up in this fight,” Gillibrand said in a statement Friday.

“Thousands of brave transgender Americans love our country enough to risk their lives for it, fight for it, and even die for it, and Congress should honor them and let them serve," she said. "Doing otherwise would only harm our readiness at a time when our military is deployed around the world in defense of our country.”

In July, Trump announced on Twitter that he planned to ban all transgender military service, and in August he followed through by signing a presidential memo.

The memo prohibits the military from enlisting transgender people and from using funds to pay for gender transition-related surgery, and it gives Mattis six months to determine what to do with currently serving transgender troops.

Mattis said he would establish a panel of experts to determine how to implement Trump’s order and that currently serving transgender troops would be allowed to continue while the study is ongoing.

Four lawsuits have been filed against the ban, three of which are seeking an immediate halt while the cases work their way through the courts.

In a statement Friday, Reed accused Trump of manufacturing a crisis for political purposes.

“Transgender service members deployed today are serving with honor and distinction,” Reed said.

“The last thing they need while serving in a combat zone is to worry about being involuntarily separated," he continued. "Congress needs to act on a bipartisan basis to do what is best for our country and national security, and that includes overturning President Trump's poorly conceived transgender ban.”

Collins, also, added that anyone who is willing to serve should be able to.

“Our armed forces should welcome the service of any qualified individual who is willing and capable of serving our country,” Collins said in a statement. “If individuals are willing to put on the uniform of our country, be deployed in war zones and risk their lives for our freedoms, then we should be expressing our gratitude to them, not trying to kick them out of the military.”

- This report was updated at 4:32 p.m.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/350919-mccain-backs-bill-to-block-transgender-troops-ban

YAY!!! ~ it's official ... for now ~ Sooz

Court Blocks Trump From Changing Transgender Troops Policy
By Associated Press Published October 30, 2017 12:52 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal court in Washington is barring President Donald Trump from changing the government’s policy on military service by transgender people.

Trump announced in an August memo that he intended to reverse course on a 2016 policy that allowed troops to serve openly as transgender individuals. He said he would order a return to the policy prior to June 2016, under which service members could be discharged for being transgender.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Monday that transgender members of the military who had sued over the change were likely to win their lawsuit and barred the Trump administration from reversing course.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/court-blocks-trump-changing-transgender-troops-policy

Good

EXCELLENT!!! ~ ~ Sooz

Second US judge halts Trump’s ban on transgender troops
Reuters / 21 Nov 2017 at 15:09 ET

A second federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump from banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, ruling that the prohibition likely amounts to unconstitutional discrimination.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis in Baltimore ruled that the ban lacked justification and “cannot possibly constitute a legitimate governmental interest.” His ruling follows a similar one by a federal judge in Washington on Oct. 30.

The lawsuit was filed in August by several service members, including lead plaintiff Brock Stone, 34, who has served in the U.S. Navy for 11 years and wants to remain for at least 20 years, according to court papers. Stone previously was deployed to Afghanistan and now works as a computer analyst at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Trump announced in July that he would ban transgender people from the military, a move that would reverse Democratic former President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them.

The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleged that Trump’s ban violated their right under the U.S. Constitution to equal protection under the law.

After his policy announcement on Twitter, Trump signed a memorandum in August that directed the armed forces not to accept transgender people as recruits and stopped the use of government funds for sex-reassignment surgeries for active-duty personnel unless the process was already underway.

The memo called on Defense Secretary James Mattis to submit a plan to the Republican president by Feb. 21 on how to implement the changes, and the Pentagon has created a panel of senior officials for that purpose. In the meantime, the current policy of allowing transgender people to serve remains in place.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/second-us-judge-halts-trumps-ban-on-transgender-troops/

Philpott: In halting transgender ban, judges hint that US has fool for client

A novice at governing, President Trump apparently didn’t consider there might be a right way and wrong way to try to reverse the Obama administration’s policy allowing transgender Americans to serve openly in the military.

Two federal judges have now weighed in to rule the path Trump chose — announcing a ban on transgender service members in a series of tweets, with shaky claims of harmed readiness and ignoring counsel of Joint Chiefs — almost certainly violated the constitutional rights of current members as well as prospective recruits.

As a result, Trump’s order to force transgender personnel from service next year after a fresh internal study of the issue from the Pentagon, and also to block the scheduled start of recruiting of qualified transgender applicants Jan. 1, are now halted unless the Trump administration can mount a successful appeal.

The separate court rulings came three weeks apart. Both shared stinging rebukes of the way Trump tried to impose the ban, and sharp critiques of arguments by Department of Justice attorneys defending Trump’s actions. Two more court decisions over blocking the ban are pending in other circuits.

The preliminary injunction granted Oct. 30 by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for the U.S. Federal District Court in the District of Columbia enjoins Trump and the Defense Department from enforcing “accession and retention directives” that Defense Secretary James Mattis issued in September to implement the formal “presidential memorandum” Trump signed in August, a month after his tweets.

On Nov. 21, U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in Maryland also ...

MORE>

At this point we're up to four federal judges have refused to allow the ban on transgender personnel in the military to go into effect, including U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal in California.

http://www.newsplex.com/content/news/Ap ... 71663.html

shiftless2 wrote:

At this point we're up to four federal judges have refused to allow the ban on transgender personnel in the military to go into effect, including U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal in California.

http://www.newsplex.com/content/news/Ap ... 71663.html

Judge sounds Mexican. Probably has cantalope calves, is a rapist, has salsa beath and is prejudiced against orange haired billionaires.

I wonder if he says "Merry Christmas"?

Bigger impact if he says Feliz Navidad! ~

Sooz

Just in case anyone wondered where the bigots had gone ...

RNC Votes to Support Trump's Ban on Transgender Military Service Members
Being Trans Is a 'Disqualifying Psychological and Physical' Condition Trump Claims
david badash

Officials of the Republican National Committee voted on Friday to support President Donald Trump's ban on transgender service members in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The Committee passed a resolution, the Associated Press reports, to stand by Trump's decision to state being transgender is a "disqualifying psychological and physical" condition, and block transgender people from serving.

"While the resolution states the committee supports Trump’s 'intent and prerogative to strengthen our military with sound personnel policies,' it also urges the Justice Department to seek U.S. Supreme Court action," the AP notes.

Three federal courts have disagreed with the Commander-in-Chief, as have numerous LGBT and civil rights organizations. One court ordered the Pentagon to accept transgender troops beginning January 1.

"Over the last month alone," DNC ­­­LGBTQ Media Director Lucas Acosta said in a statement, "the Trump-Pence administration has rolled back significant protections for the LGBTQ community, ripped apart families, and allowed health care workers to discriminate access to medical care."

"Today, the RNC decided to go even further and pass a hateful resolution, which only serves to subvert and further demean hardworking men and women who want to serve their country in the most honorable way they can. The RNC has proven they are more than willing to deny basic rights to LGBTQ Americans all while accepting money from an accused sexual predator and funneling money to an alleged child molester."

"Every American deserves respect and Democrats will not rest until every American is given the opportunity, respect, and rights they deserve under the Constitution."

SOURCE

One question - when did this administration start caring about the Constitution?

The Generals and Military Advisors? Apparently who they are is a secret.

James Dobson of the Family Research Council, and VP Pence appear to be the totality on the list. But we don't know, because Trump is defying a court order to reveal who they are - if they exist. Certainly none of the Joint Chiefs or military experts of the Dept of a Defence are on it.

Trump's proposed ban on transgender troops uncertain at Friday deadline
ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN & LUIS MARTINEZ

vid at site

President Donald Trump's proposed ban on military service by transgender individuals is supposed to go into effect Friday but it’s unclear if the White House will announce any new policy.

Trump tweeted last July that he wanted to ban all transgender service members because the military "must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory."

Trump tweeted last July that he wanted to ban all transgender service members because the military "must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory."




Defense Secretary James Mattis sent his private recommendation to the White House a month ago but it hasn't been revealed.

After the president's tweets, March 23 was the date set in the presidential memorandum submitted to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Pentagon sends recommendation on transgender troops to the White House
Second transgender individual signs contract with US military as Trump debates final policy
In legalese, the memorandum states, "Sections 1(b) and 2(b) of this memorandum shall take effect on March 23, 2018."

Section 1(b) directed DoD and DHS to revert to the policy toward transgender individuals prior to June 2016, when the Obama administration allowed transgender service members to serve openly for the first time. Section 2(b) halted DoD and DHS resources to fund "sex reassignment surgical procedures" for service members.

But the timeline provided in the memo has not always been followed.

Mattis was supposed to send his private recommendation to the White House Feb. 21, but actually sent it a few days later on Feb. 23. Defense officials have not said what it was.

Since Trump's tweets, federal courts have rejected portions of the proposed ban.

Most notably, beginning Jan. 1, the Pentagon complied with a court order that allowed transgender individuals to join the military if they met strict criteria, including certifications from a medical provider about the status of their health.

Two transgender individuals are already under contract to serve in the U.S. military since that court ruling.

Whatever policy the president announces will be subject to and restrained by existing court orders, unless the Department of Justice has judges dissolve preliminary injunctions.

What do we know about transgender service members?
Last year, defense officials estimated there were about 200 transgender individuals in the U.S. military who had self-reported to their services a desire for some form of medical treatment related to their gender identity.

However, the actual number of transgender service members is still unknown, primarily because military personnel records do not currently track transgender individuals.

A 2016 Rand study, which was referenced by former defense secretary Ash Carter, estimated that 2,450 active duty service members might be transgender, with 1,510 in reserve units.

The same Rand study said the "little research" on transgender service members showed "little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness."

"Commanders noted that the policies had benefits for all service members by creating a more inclusive and diverse force," the study said.

At the time of the study, 18 countries, including the United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, and Australia, allowed transgender personnel to serve openly.

SOURCE

NO. WORDS. ~ ~ Sooz

Shannon Vavra, Haley Britzky 11 hours ago
Trump: Transgender people "disqualified" from the military

President Trump late Friday issued an order disqualifying most transgender people from serving in the military.


Why it matters: Anything short of an inclusive policy for transgender troops will be viewed as a continuation of the ban Trump announced on Twitter in August.

What’s happened: Since Trump’s announcement in August of last year, the ban has been blocked in four federal courts over the likelihood that it was unconstitutional. Transgender troops have been able to enlist in the military since January 1 this year in spite of the announcement.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis had reportedly supported not implementing the ban and recommended existing transgender troops be allowed to serve.

Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told Axios that “it is the same categorical ban that Trump announced in August” and that they will continue to challenge it.

The National Center for Transgender Equality issued a statement: "This plan has no basis in science, medicine, facts, or military readiness—only weak, after-the-fact justifications for President Trump’s irresponsible tweets. It aims to force out trained, capable service members and prevent the military from obtaining the most qualified personnel."

Full White House statement:


https://www.axios.com/transgender-troops-ban-announcement-trump-pentagon-5f445612-afc6-4632-b39d-8fd5e95e3b64.html?source=sidebar

From my Facebook feed ~ 'nuff said ~ ~ Sooz

Pence and the Family Research Council (Tony Perkins) - #54 above

shiftless2 wrote:

Pence and the Family Research Council (Tony Perkins) - #54 above

It's Grabem's way of saying "thanks" to them for giving him a mulligan on - well - everything.

Trump’s panel of “experts” on trans military ban included anti-LGBTQ hate groups and extremists

An article published in Slate highlighted the influence of anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council (FRC) and anti-trans extremist Ryan T. Anderson in crafting the White House’s newly released policy banning transgender troops from serving in the military.

Family Research Council has a history of pushing anti-trans misinformation to justify harmful and discriminatory policies. When the transgender military ban was first announced in July 2017, FRC senior fellow Peter Sprigg published a report with the false claim that over the next ten years, allowing transgender people to serve in the military could cost “as much as $1.9 to $3.7 billion,” an estimate significantly higher than those from the Pentagon-commissioned Rand Corp study and research from the Palm Center. In the past, FRC and its representatives have also spread misinformation about transgender-inclusive restrooms, promoted conversion therapy, claimed that LGBTQ youth suicide rates would drop if the teenagers were “discourage[d] from self-identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual,” and suggested that being transgender is a “cultural phenomenon.”

In July, FRC president Tony Perkins admitted that FRC worked with the White House on the transgender military ban, and in August, Foreign Policy reported that FRC was lobbying Congress to keep the Pentagon from using government funds to “provide medical treatment related to gender transition.”

Another of Trump’s “experts,” anti-trans extremist Ryan T. Anderson, has repeatedly used biased and junk science to justify bigotry against the transgender community. In February, he published When Harry Became Sally, an entire book dedicated to discrediting the transgender experience. The book falsely argues that transgender people are mentally ill and would have better outcomes if they did not transition.

As Slate reported, “the policy issued by the White House on Friday combines anti-trans propaganda with baseless, discredited concerns about the alleged danger of open transgender service,” including false claims about military readiness, privacy, and cost. And as Slate pointed out, “given its authors, the Trump report’s conclusions are unsurprising.” From the March 24 article:


SOURCE

Trump Admin Tries to Justify Trans Military Ban, Seattle Federal Court Not Having It
by Sydney Brownstone

Justice Department attorney Ryan Parker did not have an easy case today attempting to argue in favor of President Trump's transgender military ban in US District Judge Marsha Pechman's courtroom.
The plaintiffs in the case, which now include both transgender service members and the state of Washington, filed the lawsuit nearly eight months ago after Trump tweeted that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the military.

On Friday, the White House issued a new policy, including a study from the Pentagon and a recommendation from Defense Secretary James Mattis, backing up Trump's original tweet.
During a hearing in Seattle's federal court today, Justice Department attorney Ryan Parker attempted to argue that because of the new policy (which ultimately resembles the old one), the plaintiffs' case against the government over the old transgender military ban memo was moot. But Judge Pechman, who had earlier issued a preliminary injunction finding that the old ban caused immediate harm to transgender individuals, did not appear to buy that argument.
"I've read your brief," Judge Pechman at one point told Parker. "I can't find any factual underpinnings in what you've supplied to me in the brief."

Pechman also criticized Parker and the Justice Department for failing to respond to the state of Washington's arguments made in a separate brief altogether, failing to put their briefs in the right font, and failing to make their arguments outside of their briefs' footnotes. She even once considered holding the Feds in contempt of court. Perchman also grilled Parker for not including arguments about the legitimacy of the Twitter-announced ban in the existing briefs, and merely focusing on the last-minute policy issued on Friday.
After all: "If this case is decided merely on the reading of the prohibitions," Judge Pechman quipped, "what facts do you need?"


Pechman now asking lawyers to write up another brief on the new policy. Also says feds have been using the wrong font and need to make their arguments in the body of the brief, not the footnotes.
Parker tried to argue that the new policy issued on Friday does rest on considered military judgment, one that argues that "gender dysphoria" is a disqualifying medical condition from military service. But lawyers for Lambda Legal, representing the plaintiffs, argued that dysphoria was nothing but a proxy for discrimination—and that the government didn't have any evidence that being transgender would inhibit the ability to deploy more than any other mundane reason soldiers typically give for postponing deployment. Judge Pechman additionally raised the question of how being a transgender soldier going through a transition would be different from a woman who gave birth and needed time to recover. Lambda Legal also stressed that the military has existing rules about transgender people who must already have settled into their gender identity for a period before being allowed to serve.

But Parker also said that transgender soldiers could possibly have an impact on "unit cohesion." This claim, Lambda Legal argued, lacked any evidence, and was also used to justify segregation between African American and white soldiers in the past.

But while the Justice Department argued that Judge Pechman should toss the case because it didn't directly address the policy issued by the White House on Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs say their case does address Friday's policy.

"The new report that was filed on Friday night, not only is there not a procedural rule for it, but it is legally irrelevant," Lambda Legal lawyer Natalie Nardecchia told the court. "It is post hoc evidence that cannot legally suffice. When the government discriminates against people, they need a reason. They can't say 'We'll go study it after the fact and find a reason.'"

Judge Pechman could issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the transgender military ban within the coming month, which would take effect nationwide.

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/0 ... -having-it

Judge: Transgender People A Protected Class, And The Military Can't Enact Trump Ban
"Transgender people have long been forced to live in silence, or to come out and face the threat of overwhelming discrimination,” the judge wrote.
By Ryan J. Reilly

A federal judge late Friday barred the federal government from implementing President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender members of the military, finding that the ban had to be subject to a careful court review before implementation because of the history of discrimination against transgender individuals.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of the Western District of Washington ruled that transgender people were a protected class and that the injunctions against the implementation of the ban that had been issued in December should remain in place. She wrote that there was a “long and well-recognized” history of discrimination and systemic oppression against transgender people, that discrimination against transgender people was clearly “unrelated to their ability to perform and contribute to society,” that transgender people have immutable characteristics and that they lacked relative political power.

“Transgender people have long been forced to live in silence, or to come out and face the threat of overwhelming discrimination,” Pechman wrote.

“The Court also rules that, because transgender people have long been subjected to systemic oppression and forced to live in silence, they are a protected class. Therefore, any attempt to exclude them from military service will be looked at with the highest level of care, and will be subject to the Court’s ‘strict scrutiny.’ This means that before Defendants can implement the Ban, they must show that it was sincerely motivated by compelling interests, rather than by prejudice or stereotype, and that it is narrowly tailored to achieve those interests,” Pechman wrote.

While Trump had tweeted that he consulted generals and military experts about the ban, Pechman wrote that the government had “failed to identify even one General or military expert he consulted, despite having been ordered to do so repeatedly.”

Noting that Pentagon officials were surprised by the announcement and that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis got a heads up only one day beforehand, the judge wrote that she “is led to conclude that the Ban was devised by the President, and the President alone.”

Sharon McGowan, a former top official in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division who now works as director of strategy for Lambda Legal, wrote that Pechman “cut through the nonsense,” recognizing that the plan announced by the military was just a dressed-up version of Trump’s original ban.



Read Pechman’s ruling [at source].

SOURCE

It's probably unfair to say that "the Ban was devised by the President, and the President alone". I'm quite sure that Pence and Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council, had a hand in it (or drafted it in its entirety).