WUSA9: Pushed out by Trump ban, retired Space Force Colonel seeks to become second openly transgender member of Congress
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Retired Space Force Col. Bree Fram spent 23 years serving her country, rising to become the highest-ranked openly transgender officer in the U.S. military. This summer, President Trump's executive order banning transgender troops forced her into retirement.
Now, she's running for Congress in Northern Virginia.
"Professionally, I lost my future," Fram told WUSA9 in an exclusive interview. "I likely would have been headed off to command a unit or a base this past summer, and that would have been the honor of a lifetime."
Fram joined the Air Force after 9/11, inspired by Star Trek's Geordi La Forge to become an aerospace engineer who could "help humanity expand into the stars." She transferred to the Space Force in 2021—a moment she describes feeling "like a marriage proposal."
"Yes, yes, 1000 times yes, this is everywhere I dreamed of being," she recalled.
By January 2024, Fram had been promoted to Colonel, ranking number two in the entire Space Force, a promotion based on performance. Her last assignment was defining the service's future capabilities for the next five to 20 years.