Biden taps transgender veteran to join Department of Defense transition team

Navy veteran Shawn Skelly attends OUT Magazine #OUT100 event presented in New York on Nov. 9, 2017.

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By ESHA RAY | New York Daily News | Published: November 12, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen a transgender veteran to be part of the transition team at the Department of Defense.

Shawn Skelly previously worked in the Obama administration in multiple defense and transportation roles, and became the first transgender veteran to be appointed by a president in 2013.

Skelly’s appointment comes as the Trump administration has banned transgender people from serving in the military under their self-identified gender.

The ban is still being battled in court, but Biden has signaled that he plans to overturn the executive order after he’s sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Skelly has worked as an acquisition analyst at CACI International, Inc., an international IT consultancy firm, for the past two years, according to a LinkedIn bio.

The U.S. Navy veteran joined the Obama administration in 2013, first as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the Department of Defense, then as the Director of the Office of the Executive Secretariat at the Department of Transportation, according to a LinkedIn bio.

Skelly is also vice president at Out in National Security, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ national security professionals, according to their website.

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