Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the certification of the repeal of DADT could be completed this month. Gates leaves his post and will be replaced by CIA Director Leon Panetta in two weeks.
The move to end the ban on gay services could be one of Gates’ final acts as defense chief. But Gates stressed that he is not trying to hurry the process along, and that if it is not ready by the end of the month, Panetta can take action when he steps in. More than a million U.S. troops have been trained on the new law that repealed the 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly in the armed services, and Gates said the instruction has gone well. “I think people are pretty satisfied with the way this process is going forward,” he said. “I think people have been mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training.”
Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates outlined the three steps necessary for the full implementation of the repeal of DADT, with Admiral Mike Mullen cautioning soldiers, "Now is not, from my perspective, the time to come out."
AmericaBlog reports that the cloture vote on the Defense Authorization Act is now scheduled for noon today. As we know, that could change. [Obviously, it did.] Right now the Senate is voting on the DREAM Act, which passed in the House yesterday. Watch live on C-SPAN.
UPDATE: The Senate has voted to table the DREAM Act until next week by a vote of 59-40.
UPDATE II: I've been bumping this post back to the top of the blog as we keep getting hints that the vote is imminent. Or that it won't happen at all.
UPDATE III: Sen Harry Reid just announced that DADT is effectively DEAD. "We can't win because the rules keep getting changed."
UPDATE IV: And THEN we follow up that doom with an actual vote on Reid's motion to end debate on cloture!
Several Washington sources including the usually reliable Roll Callare saying that Sen. Harry Reid may actually propose a Senate cloture vote on the Defense Authorization Bill today. Proposing the cloture vote and making it happen are two different things, of course.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled cloture votes for Wednesday on a host of bills opposed by Republicans, including the DREAM Act immigration bill, a 9/11 firefighters measure and a firefighters unionization bill. With President Barack Obama’s tax cut deal with Republicans running into stiff Democratic resistance and a long-term continuing resolution for government spending still days away, if Republicans filibuster those bills as expected, the chamber will not have any pending business. As a result, Democratic aides said, Reid could opt to return the defense authorization bill to the floor, which includes the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It is unclear whether Democrats would have enough votes to break a filibuster on that bill — a number of Republicans support repeal, while some Democrats oppose it.
Roll Call notes that the GOP could easier drag out any debate for days.
UPDATE: Reid just announced that he may bring the DAA up tonight!
UPDATE II: Wonk Room reports that Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AK), who has said that he considers homosexuality a sin, has changed his mind and will support the repeal of DADT. That leaves only one holdout Democrat, West Virginia's Joe Manchin. Pryor's statement:
On many previous occasions, I have said that I would oppose repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until I had heard from our servicemen and women regarding this policy. I have now carefully reviewed all of the findings, reports, and testimony from our armed forces on this matter and I accept the Pentagon’s recommendations to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I also accept the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs’ commitment that this policy can be implemented in a manner that does not harm our military’s readiness, recruitment, or retention.
"Today's report confirms that a strong majority of our military men and women and their families-more than two thirds-are prepared to serve alongside Americans who are openly gay and lesbian. This report also confirms that, by every measure-from unit cohesion to recruitment and retention to family readiness-we can transition to a new policy in a responsible manner that ensures our military strength and national security. And for the first time since this law was enacted 17 years ago today, both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have publicly endorsed ending this policy.
"With our nation at war and so many Americans serving on the front lines, our troops and their families deserve the certainty that can only come when an act of Congress ends this discriminatory policy once and for all. The House of Representatives has already passed the necessary legislation. Today I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally. Our troops represent the virtues of selfless sacrifice and love of country that have enabled our freedoms. I am absolutely confident that they will adapt to this change and remain the best led, best trained, best equipped fighting force the world has ever known." - President Barack Obama.
I've uploaded the complete Department of Defense document to my Scribd account. Bloggers, feel free to grab the embed code. It's quite a long piece, more than 160 pages, plus the appendices.
Chris Geidner reports atMetro Weekly that President Obama has called Sen. Carl Levin to encourage him to fight efforts to strip the repeal of DADT from the defense authorization bill.
This afternoon, White House spokesman Shin Inouye told Metro Weekly that President Obama had spoken with one of the Senate leaders of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal -- Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) -- about the provision's inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act. Inouye wrote, "Today, President Obama called Chairman Levin to reiterate his commitment on keeping the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in the National Defense Authorization Act, and the need for the Senate to pass this legislation during the lame duck." He added, "The President's call follows the outreach over the past week by the White House to dozens of Senators from both sides of the aisle on this issue."
UPDATE: The below press release just came in from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, noting a joint press conference to be held tomorrow morning with nine Democratic Senators and pro-repeal LGBT groups. The purpose of the press conference is to urge other Senators to support the repeal vote.
We don't know what this is really about yet, but this just popped up on Politico.
Two gay troops’ groups will announce today that they’d support breaking off DADT repeal if doing so would help the defense authorization act pass – but they’ll keep pushing for repeal in the lame-duck Congress, Morning Defense has learned. The statement from OutServe and Knights Out is just one prong in a complex offensive planned for lawmakers’ return to Washington this week, organizers said. “On behalf of the more than 1,000 active duty gay and lesbian service members and 500 gay and lesbian veterans we represent, we respectfully urge Congress to pass the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to fund the aircraft, weapons, combat vehicles, ammunition and promised pay-raises for all troops, whether or not the repeal of don't ask, don't tell is included,” the statement will say. “To be clear, we will continue to fight for our integrity as gay and lesbian service members and we hope that legislative action in Congress can be taken in 2010 to lift the ban."
Knights Out is West Point's gay alumni group. OutServe is a small network of gay servicemembers just formed in July.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is furious about the leaked DADT survey and has launched an investigation to find its source. In the meantime, today the Pentagon issued a super-annoyed press release.
Secretary Gates is very concerned and extremely disappointed that unnamed sources within the Department of Defense have selectively revealed aspects of the draft findings of the Comprehensive Review Working Group, presumably to shape perceptions of the report prior to its release. The Secretary launched this review in March to objectively ascertain the impact of potential repeal of the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ law on military readiness, effectiveness, recruiting, retention, unit cohesion and families. He made it clear then and throughout this process that it was ‘critical that this effort be carried out in a professional, thorough and dispassionate manner.’ He has also stated clearly that ‘given the political dimension of this issue, it is equally critical that...every effort be made to shield our men and women in uniform and their families from those aspects of this debate.’
For nearly nine months the Working Group has operated in strict accordance to that mandate. Anonymous sources now risk undermining the integrity of this process. The Secretary strongly condemns the unauthorized release of information related to this report and has directed an investigation to establish who communicated with the Washington Post or any other news organization without authorization and in violation of Department policy and his specific instruction. The full report will be made public for all to review early next month. Until then, no one at the Pentagon will comment on its contents.
You gotta wonder how much of a hand Tony Perkins had in this response.
On Monday the Human Rights Campaign will place ads in several major newspapers in key markets urging senators to vote for the National Defense Authorization Act, to which the repeal of DADT is attached. (View large-size ad here.) Via press release:
As part of an all-out push aimed at convincing senators to bring the National Defense Authorization Act to a vote during the Senate’s lame duck session, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization working toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, will place full-page ads in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio), the Boston Herald (Massachusetts), the Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), and the Indianapolis Star (Indiana) on Monday calling on key senators to put the security of our nation and our troops first. The NDAA funds thousands of defense programs critical to our national security and includes a provision that would repeal the discriminatory and unjust law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
On the same day the ads are published (Monday), HRC will launch an internet-based campaign urging their members and others to call senators directly on the issue.
The ACLU has filed a class action suit against the Department of Defense because soldiers that are discharged for homosexuality are given only half of the separation pay given to other honorable dischargees. The ACLU notes that this policy is not stipulated in DADT legislation and can be changed without congressional approval.
The lead plaintiff in the case is Richard Collins, a decorated former staff-sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who served for nine years until he was discharged from service under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Mr. Collins's superiors learned that he is gay when two civilian co-workers observed him exchange a kiss with his civilian boyfriend. Mr. Collins received an honorable discharge from the Air Force but discovered after the discharge had been completed that his separation pay had been cut in half on the grounds of "homosexuality." The ACLU and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network first contacted the Defense Department in November 2009 to request that the separation-pay policy be revised to eliminate the discrimination against gay and lesbian service members, but the department has refused to do so. Because of its refusal to change this discriminatory policy, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico have filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
The ACLU invites more participants in the suit. Hit the link to see if you qualify.
Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Congress should hurry up and repeal DADT before the new members arrive in January. But it doesn't sound like he thinks they will.
"I would like to see the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" but I'm not sure what the prospects for that are," Gates said Saturday, as he traveled to defense and diplomatic meetings in Australia. Unless the lame-duck Congress acts, the repeal effort is considered dead for now. The current, Democratic-controlled Congress has not acted to lift the ban, which President Barack Obama promised to eliminate. In his postelection news conference Wednesday, Obama said there would be time to repeal the ban in December or early January, after the military completes a study of the effects of repeal on the front lines and at home.
In response to the murky legal waters currently swirling around DADT, the Pentagon has announced it is raising the rank of persons able to make the call to eject a gay or lesbian servicemember. Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:
Discharges under the military's ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy will now take the approval of the service branch secretary, and only in consultation with the defense department general counsel and the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, according to a pair of memoranda issued by senior military leadership today.
Until further notice, pursuant to a memorandum from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a follow-up memorandum from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, no service member can be discharged under DADT without the ''personal approval of the secretary of the military department concerned, and only in coordination with me and the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.''
The message I'm seeing is that the Pentagon intends to make it extremely hard to kick someone out.
Today the Pentagon is expected to issue another set of DADT guidelines in the wake of yesterday's stay of Judge Virginia Phillips' injunction.
Defense Department spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday that he expects the guidelines be announced later in the day. An injunction last week barring the military from following the "don't ask, don't tell" law prompted the Pentagon to order that recruiters must accept applications from gays, and military lawyers must stop prosecuting cases aimed at firing them.But a Wednesday ruling froze that injunction. That means the military could at least temporarily return to its policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly, while the courts continue to consider the question.
The Pentagon has made it official. There will be no more DADT-related discharges until the DOJ's appeal of its overturn is resolved. This move was leaked earlier today on the Rachel Maddow Show blog. The below message has been posted to the DOD's defense.gov website.
Pending an appeal, the military services have halted discharges under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, DOD officials said today. Judge Virginia Phillips of the U.S. Central District of California ordered the halt to discharges and investigations. Phillips found the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell statute unconstitutional in a Sept. 9 ruling. On Oct. 12, she issued an injunction ordering the Defense Department worldwide to halt discharges and investigations. “Earlier today, the staff judge advocate generals from the military services, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of General Counsel, sent to their service staff judge advocate counterparts in the field an e-mail informing them of the ruling by Judge Virginia Phillips of the Central District of California, issuing an injunction barring the enforcement or application of 10 United States Code 654, commonly known as the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ statute,” Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. Dave Lapan said in a written statement.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the certification of the repeal of DADT could be completed this month. Gates leaves his post and will be replaced by CIA Director Leon Panetta in two weeks. 
