DADT Repeal Could Be Official This Month

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 More than a million U.S. troops have been trained on the new law that repealed the 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly in the armed services, and Gates said the instruction has gone well.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.”

Anti-Gay Christianist Hate Group Leader Elaine Donnelly Denounces Robert Gates

Tony Perkins Denounces Robert Gates

"It's hard to believe that he made that statement with a straight face. After all the testimony and Pentagon scrutiny, it's incredibly disingenuous to suggest that the military won't be affected by repeal. Some leaders may be on board with the change, but even they recognize that it is change. If this were just business as usual, would the military be wasting hours on training? Would the Pentagon have deflected valuable resources to survey the troops?

"This isn't a change--it's a complete upheaval for the entire force. More than anyone, Secretary Gates should understand the major implications for the two million-plus active duty and reserve personnel. Whether the issue is as broad as religious freedom or as basic as bunks and bathrooms, forcing the military to embrace open homosexuality will have real and devastating consequences for the men and women in uniform." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, denouncing Defense Secretary Robert Gates for telling an anti-gay Marine to get in line with the repeal of DADT.

Quote Of The Day - Robert Gates

"You'll have to complete your enlistment just like everybody else. The reality is that you don't all agree with each other on your politics, you don't agree with each other on your religion, you don't agree with each other on a lot of thing. But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that's all that matters. If we do this right, nothing will change. You will still have to abide by the same rules of behavior, the same discipline, the same respect for each other that has been the case through all the history of the Marine Corps." - Defense Secretary Robert Gates, essentially telling an anti-gay Marine to shove his bigotry.

Defense Sec. Robert Gates Outlines Three Steps To Full DADT Implemenation

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."

DADT Hearings Recap

Wonk Room's Igor Volsky ticks off the ways that GOP objections have been dispatched so far today.Read more Volsky's analysis. Here's his video recap.

LIVE VIDEO: Senate DADT Debate

Defense Secretary Gate and Admiral Mike Mullen appear today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. I'll bump this video player to the top of the blog a few times as the hearings go on today.

UPDATE: The hearing has concluded for today.

Senate DADT Hearings Set For Next Week

Today the Senate Armed Services Committee announced that hearings on the repeal of DADT will begin next week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are expected to testify.

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

In a notice, the committee announced it would hold hearings on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. regarding the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” working group report, which is now scheduled for release on Monday. The hearings on both days are set to take place in Room SD-G50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and are scheduled to begin at 9 am. For the Dec. 2 hearing, the witnesses are set to include Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen as well as the co-chairs of the Pentagon working group: Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s general counsel, and Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe.

In February testimony before the committee, Mullen has said he supports allowing openly gay people to serve in the U.S. military. Gates has already told reporters that he wants Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On Dec. 3, the committee is set to hear testimony from Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright and the military service chiefs: Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead; Marine Corps Gen. James Amos; and Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz.

John McCain Begged To Let Soldiers Themselves Vote On DADT Repeal

The Wonk Room has revealed a letter from Sen. John McCain to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in which he asked that the DADT survey be modified so that soldiers were asked whether the policy should be repealed, rather than how they felt about the repeal itself.

McCain: "I urge you and Admiral Mullen to modify the review and the survey instrument, or to conduct supplemental surveys, aimed at ensuring that the question of whether the DADT policy should be changed is answered."

Gates wrote back with the right answer: "I do not believe that military policy decisions — on this or any other subject — should be made through a referendum of servicemembers."

DADT Study To Come One Day Early

After weeks of leaks, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the Pentagon will issue its study on the repeal of DADT one day in advance of its scheduled December 1st release.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has ordered the report to be released on Nov. 30, one day earlier than planned, "to support Congress's wish to consider repeal before they adjourn," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Sunday. The Senate is slated to vote again on a defense policy bill that includes language that would repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy after the Thanksgiving recess. The measure did not advance in September. Several senators asked Gates last week to release the report early so the Senate Armed Services Committee could hold hearings on it before the full Senate votes. Several moderate senators have said they will not decide how to vote until they read the report. Gates "has instructed his staff, without cutting any corners, to have everything ready a day sooner because he wants to ensure members of the Armed Services Committee are able to read and consider the complex, lengthy report before holding hearings with its authors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Morrell said in a statement.

The Department Of Defense Is EVER So Pissed About The Leaked DADT Survey

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.

Defense Sec. Robert Gates Urges Senate To Repeal DADT In Lame Duck Session

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.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: DADT Should Be Decided By Congress Not Court

Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented yesterday's injunction against enforcing DADT, saying the issue should be up to Congress, not the courts.

"I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training," Mr Gates said. "It has enormous consequences for our troops." Mr Gates' comments aboard a military aircraft came a day after US District Judge Virginia Phillips, in California, issued a permanent injunction forbidding the US military from enforcing the 17-year-old ban. At the White House on Wednesday, spokesman Robert Gibbs described "don't ask, don't tell" as "a policy that is going to end". But he declined to answer whether the Obama administration preferred to seek a stay of the injunction and appeal against the ruling. The US Department of Justice has 60 days to appeal but may opt not to do so.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Urges Gay Troops To Fill Out DADT Survey

Even though advocates for gay troops are worried that the anonymity of the survey may not be airtight and have advised them not to participate. Note that Gates says "when and IF" when referring to the repeal of DADT.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tells Troops Not To Worry About DADT Repeal

In a videotaped Memorial Day message to the nation's soldiers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates urges his audience not to to "become distracted" over the possible repeal of DADT. Gates then asks that active duty soldiers participate in the repeal study so that "changes can be done right."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates Reluctantly Accepts DADT Compromise

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has issued a lukewarm endorsement of the DADT compromised reached yesterday by the White House and Congress.

"Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell law," Gates' spokesman Geoff Morrell emailed journalists this morning. "With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the Secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment," he said.

TRANSFER RUMOR: Hillary Clinton Considered For Secretary Of Defense

Ben Smith at Politico is floating the rumor that Hillary Clinton is being considered to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense.

Gates, for his part, has saved Clinton from a different kind of marginalization by a powerful White House staff, which has a sometimes-rocky relationship with her own staff of loyalists, a residue of the bitter 2008 campaign. He’s offered her a potent back channel to power and — some of her most political allies have told other Democrats — a path forward inside the administration. Gates, who has long signaled an eagerness to retire, just launched what appears to be his final initiative, a tough push to scale back the Pentagon’s gargantuan bureaucracy. Clinton, with her hawkish image and ties to Gates and to military brass, would be his most logical successor — and some of her most senior allies have begun quietly to float the notion.

Appointed by Dubya in late 2006, Gates is the only Secretary of Defense in history to be held over from a previous administration. But who would replace Hillary as Secretary of State?

(Tipped by JMG reader Band)

Department Of Defense Launches Internal DADT Dialog Site For Active Duty Soldiers

Could this be part of the DADT repeal implementation study?

A new online inbox that enables servicemembers and their families to comment anonymously about the impact of a possible repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law has gone live. The inbox will enable servicemembers and families to offer their thoughts about how a repeal of the law that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military might affect military readiness, military effectiveness and unit cohesion, recruiting and retention, and family readiness, a defense official explained. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates created an intradepartment, interservice working group to conduct a fair, objective, comprehensive and dispassionate review of these issues, the official said. The online inbox is one method the group will use to systematically engage with the force and their families. A non-Defense Department contractor will monitor comments made through the inbox and eliminate any identifiable information inadvertently submitted to ensure anonymity, the official said.

The site is located here, but seems to be inactive at the moment, so we can't yet tell how it will screen out anti-gay non-military commenters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Calls For Suspension Of DADT Dismissals

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has fired back at yesterday's statement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in response to a letter sent this afternoon by Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates concerning the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy:

“We all look forward to the report on the review of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy by the Defense Department. In the meantime, the Administration should immediately place a moratorium on dismissals under this policy until the review has been completed and Congress has acted.”

The ball's in your court, Secretary Gates.

Defense Secretary Gates To Congress: Don't Make A Vote On DADT

This afternoon Defense Secretary told Congress not to attempt to vote to repeal DADT until the Pentagon has completed its study. The letter was co-signed by Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen. Both men have testified in favor of lifting the ban, eventually.

In a sharply worded letter, Gates said he believes the Defense Department must be allowed to review the potential impact of repealing the ban on openly gay service members before Congress acts. "Our military must be afforded the opportunity to inform us of their concerns, insights and suggestions if we are to carry out this change successfully," Gates wrote in response to an inquiry from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.). Repealing the policy before the military completes its review, "would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence, their views, concerns and perspectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families," Gates said. The letter was co-signed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, who joined Gates in voicing personal opposition to the ban at a February Senate hearing.

Most will likely read Gates' letter as an indirect White House attempt to squash the issue before the midterm elections. Moments ago, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) fired out this dissenting press release:

“I respectfully disagree with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen. Congress should not sit on their hands. Now is the time for Congress to show strong leadership and repeal this disastrous policy. ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is wrong for our national security and inconsistent with the moral foundation upon which our country was founded. When we repeal this policy – and we will repeal this policy – we will strengthen America - both militarily and morally.”

The Human Rights Campaign and other activists are working to get the Senate Armed Services Committee to add the repeal of DADT to a pending defense authorization bill.