The White House has announced orders to formally ban transgender people from serving in the military, following up on Donald Trump’s controversial policy pledge that sparked widespread backlash last year from civil rights groups and US defense chiefs.

Despite opposition from top military officials and previous rulings against the ban, which LGBT rights groups have challenged in court, a memo from the secretary of defense released late Friday night said trans people are “disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances”.

The memo did not elaborate on possible exceptions, but said the secretary of defense and secretary of homeland security “may exercise their authority to implement any appropriate policies concerning military service by transgender individuals”.

The announcement claimed that the policy was “developed through extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders” and said that based on the advice of “experts”, the administration has concluded that the “accession or retention” of trans people “presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality”.

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