Rep. Crenshaw on Biden lifting transgender military ban: 'People should serve openly'

Any American willing and able to serve in the military should be permitted to do so, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said Monday after President Biden lifted a Trump-era restriction on transgender people serving their country.

Crenshaw, a retired Navy SEAL officer, said on "America Reports" that however the "devil is in the details" on Biden's order.

"Under Trump, transgender people could serve openly. What was not OK was to get taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery. That's a fairly reasonable policy to have," he said.

"Look, I think people should serve openly and tell people what their identity is. That is fine. I want to see Secretary Austin stick by what he said in his testimony, which is that we will adhere to the standards of anybody that can meet those standards should be able to serve."

Crenshaw said taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery in this aspect will hurt the military's medical readiness.

"You cannot deploy if you're not vaccinated or have the proper dental records in place. How are we supposed to deploy people and keep our war-fighting stance and should taxpayers be paying for that?" he asked.

According to ABC News, Biden's order ensures that medically necessary gender transition operations are available to all military members.

Crenshaw also commented on another Biden executive order -- revoking the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline between Alberta, Canada and the U.S.' Great Plains.

The lawmaker said the inevitable spike in gasoline prices will do the most fiscal damage to working-class and poor communities, and that killing the pipeline does little to reach the stated goal of reducing emissions.

"This is terrible policy," he said, noting the crude oil will simply be diverted to the interstates or the rails. "If you care about the environment, if you care about the economy, because this is costing tens of thousands of jobs."