Sen. John McCain railed at the Obama administration for its "contempt" of Congress in keeping lawmakers in the dark about its decision to lift a ban on letting
transgender troops serve in the military.
In remarks Thursday to Fox News's
"The Real Story," the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said it's "customary" to at least give the chairman a briefing about policy changes.
The Obama administration, he said, "doesn't do that."
"Unlike any other administration that I have been associated with, we received no heads up" about the decision allowing transgender troops to serve openly, he said.
McCain also charged the administration, in general, has been the "least communicative" he'd ever encountered.
"All I can say is it seems maybe their more interested in the publicity value than really getting something accomplished, because something like this will require some legislation."
"But look, they haven’t told us about almost anything they’re doing, whether it be Iraq, Syria," he added. "We get a lot of our information about what is going on through the media. And, again, I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve dealt with Democratic presidents, Republican presidents, but never an administration that treats the Congress with not just disdain but contempt."
McCain said he intends to hold hearings on the Pentagon’s decision.
"I will be calling up the chiefs of the services, those men and women in uniform who are the heads of the military, and ask them their views, including the cost of implementing, I’m talking about the fiscal costs, of implementing some of these changes, and we’ll be having hearings," he vowed.
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