Rep. Adam Schiff praised Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday after Mattis reversed a directive from President Donald J. Trump last Friday that would have indefinitely upheld a ban on transgender military members.

Mattis issued a statement on Tuesday saying the current policy allowing transgender troops to serve openly will remain in place pending further analysis. Schiff said he was “thankful” for the secretary’s decision.

“However, the fact remains that there was no basis for the President’s destructive change in policy and the tweets that preceeded it. Every American should be encouraged to serve the country and we should be grateful for all who do.”

At a press conference in July, Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the Los Angeles LBGT Center, was one of many local officials to denounce the president over tweets that said he will ban transgender military personnel. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles LGBT Center)

Former President Barack Obama announced in 2016 that transgender military members could serve openly for the first time in U.S. military history. Previously, they could have been medically discharged for revealing that information. The Obama administration gave the military until July 1 this year to implement the rule, but that was pushed back to Jan. 1, 2018. A directive issued by Trump last Friday will indefinitely postpone the military’s effort to integrate transgender people.

The directive states that the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security “shall determine how to address transgender individuals currently serving in the United States military.”

Darrel Cummings, chief of staff at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, issued a statement harshly condemning the directive. He referred to recent criticism Trump has faced over his response to the white supremacist-led rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his pardon of Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff.

“While he pardons a convicted felon and refers to white supremacists as fine people, our commander-in-chief is ostracizing the thousands of dedicated, hard-working transgender service members willing to lay down their life for our country and, against the recommendation of an overwhelming number of military leaders, preventing them from fighting for our country,” Cummings said.

Ashton Carter, former secretary of defense under Obama, announced last summer that transgender people would be able to serve openly in the U.S. military. It was another social milestone for the military following the discontinuation of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy issued by former President Bill Clinton. But Trump, in his memo, said there was no “sufficient basis” to begin allowing transgender personnel or recruits to serve.

“In my judgment, the previous Administration failed to identify a sufficient basis to conclude that terminating the [Defense] Department’s longstanding policy and practice would not hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion, or tax military resources, and there remain meaningful concerns that further study is needed to ensure that continued implementation of last year’s policy change would not have those negative effects,” the memo read.

A report commissioned by the Department of Defense estimated that there were between 1,320 to 6,630 transgender people already in the military. It added that costs of health care, one of the concerns Trump mentioned, would be “relatively low” for gender transition-related costs. Not all transgender people in the military seek treatments for gender transition.

A year earlier, the LGBT Center was one of many local organizations lauding Obama’s decision to discontinue transgender discrimination in the military. The center’s CEO, Lorri L. Jean, said that transgender military members would no longer have to serve by “living a lie.” A year later, with a new policy upholding the old standards, their elation has receded.

“In the history of our country, has there ever been a time when we’ve been led by such a reckless, bigoted, ignorant, and morally bankrupt president?!” Cummings said in a written statement shortly after Trump’s directive was announced.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of six current transgender members of the military. The suit alleges that the ban violates the constitution’s “guarantees of equal protection and substantive due process.”

“Allowing men and women who are transgender to serve openly and providing them with necessary health care does nothing to harm military readiness or unit cohesion,” said Josh Block, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. “Men and women who are transgender with the courage and capacity to serve deserve more from their commander-in-chief.”

A spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti referred to a statement the mayor issued last month when Trump announced his intention to continue the ban on transgender service members. Garcetti said the ban is “at odds with the values of freedom and equality that our men and women in uniform fight for every day.”