On Friday afternoon, a category 4 hurricane approaches Texas.

On the other side of the US, Trump bans the recruitment of transgendered members of the military.

The Obama administration decided to allow openly transgender individuals to join the military.Recently, the President said in his memorandum ‘he would not allow any openly transgender people to join.’

The memo read, “Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President and as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States under the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including Article II of the Constitution, I am directing the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard, to return to the longstanding policy and practice on military service by transgender individuals that was in place prior to June 2016 until such time as a sufficient basis exists upon which to conclude that terminating that policy and practice would not have the negative effects discussed above.”

In July, President Trump tweeted his plans to ban transgender people from the military, which was then scrutinized by the Department of Justice.

Today, the DOJ is silent on the ban of transgender recruits.  Current military members are under review.

Several people are enraged upon the President’s decision, including advocates who feel that this is a step backwards.

“So, it’s after 5 PM on a Friday, there is a category 4 hurricane preparing to unleash a path of destruction across America’s 4th largest city,” Troy Stevenson, Director of Freedom Oklahoma said on his Facebook page, after hearing about the Memorandum.

“Someone thinks it’s a good idea to pick this moment to order that the US Military starts discriminating against trans folks” Stevenson said. “– [and to] pardon a racist who flouts the US Constitution and our federal justice system to racially profile brown folks. #priorities.”

Daryl Gandy, former government teacher, said Friday night, “Instead of ensuring that FEMA was prepared for what could be the worst hurricane in American history, Donald Trump decided to spend his time pardoning Sheriff Joe.”

President Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Arizona on Friday. Sheriff Arpaio has been spared a long-term jail sentence for his attempt to crack down on what he presumed to be undocumented immigrants from Mexico.

According to various civil rights groups, Arpaio was in violation of the fourth amendment for his tactics of searching and processing Hispanic people without warrants or just cause.

A reported 60% of Texans did not evacuate from the path of hurricane Harvey, and there is currently no head of FEMA to assist during the category 4 storm.

The last message President Trump sent about the hurricane was a tweet which stated he would assist if needed. “At the request of the Governor of Texas, I have signed the Disaster Proclamation, which unleashes the full force of government help!”

Thousands watch the hurricane live on social media — anticipating a storm worse than hurricane Katrina.  

Transgender service members await a decision that could end their career as they know it.