Trump's transgender order surprises even Republican allies

President Trump's unexpected announcement Wednesday that the military would no longer accept transgender service members left many in the administration wondering why he had suddenly arrived at such a conclusion and how he planned to implement such a consequential policy.

Republicans on Capitol Hill acknowledged Wednesday that the White House had been reviewing whether taxpayers should fund gender reassignment treatments as GOP lawmakers in the House debated a provision in their spending bill that would block the Pentagon from paying for the surgeries.

But none said they expected the president to come out so forcefully against all transgender military service, and many publicly expressed dismay at the way Trump handled the sensitive political issue.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders could not answer questions on Wednesday about whether transgender service members who are already deployed would be recalled home and could not predict when the Pentagon would issue guidance explaining its shift away from the Obama-era policy.

"Look, I think sometimes you have to make decisions," Sanders told reporters at the White House. "And once [Trump] made a decision, he didn't feel it was necessary to hold that decision."