The first executive order Trump is expected to sign will reinstate service members removed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, restore their rank, and provide back pay.
The second executive order Trump is expected to sign directs the Department of Defense to determine a policy regarding transgender service members based on readiness. It does not put an immediate ban on trans service members. It simply directs the DOD to come up with a policy.
The orders, which were first reported by the New York Post, come as Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, was sworn in as secretary of defense on Saturday. Hegseth has long stated he planned to implement major cultural changes to the military, including ending DEI practices and removing "woke" service members.
Moments after his arrival at the Pentagon on Monday, Hegseth told reporters that there are "more executive orders coming."
Trump had banned transgender Americans form serving in the military in 2017 during his first administration, but then-President Joe Biden issued an order in 2021 repealing the ban.
Hours after being sworn in for his second term last week, Trump signed an order revoking the Biden administration's 2021 move to allow transgender members to serve. However, the order Trump is expected to sign on Monday goes even further, one of the officials said, and will outline new military standards regarding gender pronouns and state that mental and physical readiness requires transgender service members be banned from the military.
"It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics. During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care. This is not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements," one of the officials said, citing a fact sheet.
"The implementation [of the ban] is on the DoD regarding specifics," the official said. In 2018, there were an estimated 14,000 transgender service members in the US military, according to the Palm Center, an independent research institute that has conducted extensive research on sexual minorities in the military.
A second EO states that any "discriminatory" policies related to DEI in the military will be banned. The order comes after the Trump administration ordered employees in any federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices to be placed on paid administrative leave "effective immediately."
All DEI practices in the US armed forces will also be subject to an internal review by Hegseth.
The third executive order directs Hegseth to reinstate all active and reserve service members who were previously discharged for failing to get the Covid-19 vaccine. They will be reinstated with their former rank and given back pay and benefits, one of the officials said. However, the Pentagon had already rescinded the military's Covid-19 vaccination mandate allowing them to rejoin after Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the change. CNN reported in October 2023 that only 43 of the more than 8,000 US service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated sought to rejoin eight months after the vaccine mandate was officially repealed.
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ABC News contributed to this report.