Don't Ask Don't Tell

GOPer Wants To Reinstate 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' In The Oklahoma National Guard

Jillian Rayfield | January 12, 2012, 11:13AM

A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma wants to reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the state's National Guard, because "nobody except a couple of radical activists found any harm in the policy."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Mullen: DADT Repeal Is 'First And Foremost A Matter Of Integrity'

Jillian Rayfield | September 20, 2011, 2:52PM

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen Discussing the End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces went into effect Tuesday, which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called "an historic day for the Pentagon and the nation."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Report: Obama Administration Will 'Likely' Appeal Block Of DADT

Jillian Rayfield | July 12, 2011, 5:39PM

The Obama Administration will reportedly "likely" appeal the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to block the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, according to a Washington Blade source.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Military Suspends DADT And Will Now Accept Openly Gay Recruits

Jillian Rayfield | July 8, 2011, 4:06PM

The Pentagon announced Friday that it is suspending its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of banning openly gay servicemen and women.

The Army Times reports that the Department of Defense will comply with a Ninth Circuit ruling earlier this week that ordered the military to halt the policy.

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DOMA

Court Orders Immediate Repeal Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Jillian Rayfield | July 6, 2011, 5:01PM

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ordered the federal government to stop enforcing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military's policy of discharging openly gay servicemen and women, citing the government's recent opposition to policies that discriminate based on sexuality.

A lower court judge had ruled in October that DADT is unconstitutional, but after the government appealed, the Ninth Circuit granted a stay of eliminating the policy until it could rule. On Wednesday the panel lifted the stay.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

After 'Don't Ask' Survey Leak, 'Concerned Source' Slips IG Report To Anti-Gay Group

Ryan J. Reilly | June 28, 2011, 5:33PM

Gay rights activists at the "One Nation Working Together" rally

Pretend you're angry that someone improperly leaked some details of a military survey that showed the vast majority of service members wouldn't care all that much about serving alongside gay troops. Say that disclosure was perfectly timed to jolt congressional support for repeal of the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.

How do you get back? By leaking the Defense Department Inspector General's report on the leak of that survey to an anti-gay group that fought against the repeal of the 'Don't Ask' policy, of course!

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

CA Rep Introduces Bill To Delay DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | January 21, 2011, 8:38AM

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

Gay servicemembers aren't in the clear quite yet.

As the Pentagon begins its work to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a process that is expected to take several months, a Republican congressman from California has introduced legislation that would likely delay the process.

Rep. Duncan Hunter's proposed bill would require the chief of staff of each military branch to sign off on repeal before it could be fully implemented. As the law currently stands, the President, the defense secretary and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff all have to certify that repeal will not hurt military readiness. After that, the policy can be officially repealed in 60 days.

Hunter calls it the "Restore Military Readiness Act."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

McCain Flips Again: 'I'll Do Everything I Can' To Make DADT Repeal Work

Rachel Slajda | January 6, 2011, 11:01AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who over the past year made himself into the Senate's most rabid opponent of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, has softened his tone and now says he'll do anything he can to help repeal go smoothly.

"I think I have to do everything I can to make sure that the [impact on the] morale, retention, recruitment and battle effectiveness of the military is minimized as much as possible," McCain said on Fox Business, according to The Hill.

"It is a law and I have to do whatever I can to help the men and women who are serving, particularly in combat, cope with this new situation," he said. "I will do everything I can to make it work."

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Owen Honors

Navy Captain Officially Fired From Command Over Videos

Rachel Slajda | January 4, 2011, 4:38PM

A still from one of Capt. Owen Honors' videos.

The Navy announced this afternoon that it has fired Capt. Owen Honors from his post as commander of the USS Enterprise over crude videos he made in 2006 and 2007.

Honors has been re-assigned to administrative duties.

"The responsibility of the commanding officer for his or her command is absolute," Adm. John Harvey, commander of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command, said in a statement released this afternoon. "While Captain Honors' performance as commanding officer of U.S.S. Enterprise has been without incident, his profound lack of good judgment and professionalism while previously serving as executive officer on Enterprise calls into question his character and completely undermines his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command."

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Owen Honors

Navy Captain Who Made Crude Videos Temporarily Relieved Of Command

Rachel Slajda | January 4, 2011, 9:34AM

A still from one of Capt. Owen Honors' videos.

Capt. Owen Honors, the Navy commander who made a series of videos rife with anti-gay slurs and mock masturbation, will be temporarily relieved of his command of the USS Enterprise, NBC News reports.

Honors made the videos a few years ago, when he was second in command of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. They were publicized this weekend by the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, prompting an investigation by the Navy.

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Navy

Nuke-Powered Ship Commander Under Navy Investigation For Raunchy Vids

Rachel Slajda | January 3, 2011, 10:12AM

A still from one of Capt. Owen Honors' videos.

In 2006 and 2007, Navy Capt. Owen Honors, now the commander of the USS Enterprise, made a series of videos using Navy equipment and showed them to the 6,000 sailors on his ship. In the videos, the then-executive officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier calls his "alternate personality" a "fag," shows two women showering and drops the F-bomb many, many times.

After a series of complaints from those who found the "XO Movie Nights" offensive, his higher-ups told him to cut it out. But he was apparently never officially disciplined.

Now, with selections from the weekly videos published by the Virginian-Pilot newspaper over the weekend, the Navy says it is investigating the videos.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Gov't Files To Suspend 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Appeal

Ryan J. Reilly | December 31, 2010, 10:03AM

A crowd protests "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" outside the White House

The Justice Department asked a federal judge this week to suspend an appeal of the Log Cabin Republicans' federal lawsuit against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which was recently repealed by Congress.

Justice Department attorneys argued that the court should "suspend the briefing schedule and hold the case in abeyance to allow that process to continue to completion."

A federal judge had ruled in September that DADT was unconstitutional and issued an injunction banning enforcement of the law, a ruling DOJ appealed.

President Obama signed the repeal into law earlier this month, and has said he expects repeal to be implemented in a matter of months, not years.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Groups Opposed To DADT Repeal 'Latching' On To Shower Issue

Ryan J. Reilly | December 28, 2010, 2:02PM

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) interviewed by a reporter from cnsnews.com

Groups opposed to the open service of gay and lesbian members of the military will continue to fear-monger about gay and straight service members showering together to sexualize the open service issue, Jarrod Chlapowski of Servicemembers United told TPM in an interview.

"I see that as being a talking point to just raise fears and draw attention to their general opposition to the issue and that's not something that I think will go away anytime soon," Chlapowski said.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Group Opposed To DADT Repeal To Fight On Against Shower Policy

Ryan J. Reilly | December 27, 2010, 2:20PM

Since 1993, the Center for Military Readiness has been fighting to keep gay men and lesbians from infiltrating the United States military. So now that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been repealed, what's next for the group that fought so hard to prevent the open service of gay and lesbian members of the armed forces?

They have no big plans yet, Elaine Donnelly, founder and President of the Center for Military Readiness, told TPM in an interview Monday.

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Family Research Council

FRC Claims McCain Will Keep Leading Pro-DADT Fight, McCain Says Not So Much

Rachel Slajda | December 22, 2010, 1:16PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

The Family Research Council and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) both spent a lot of energy this year fighting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But that doesn't mean they'll be working together to un-repeal it.

FRC claimed in a blog post yesterday that McCain (R-AZ) will continue to lead the fight.

"We'll be spending the next couple of weeks reassessing the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' debate. In fact, I've already been in conversations with Hill leaders about holding hearings in the New Year, as well as statutory and legislative oversight steps that can be taken to turn back aspects of the repeal and slow down--if not stop--the rest," the post reads.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Gov. McDonnell Says No Way To New DADT For Va. National Guard

Rachel Slajda | December 21, 2010, 4:19PM

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R)

A state lawmaker from Virginia is so upset about the Congress repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell that he wants to institute a mini-DADT banning gay men and lesbians from the Virginia National Guard.

"It's a distraction when I'm on the battlefield and have to concentrate on the enemy 600 yards away and I'm worried about this guy whose got eyes on me," the lawmaker, Delegate Bob Marshall (R), told WUSA9. "If I needed a blood transfusion and the guy next to me had committed sodomy 14 times in the last month I'd be worried."

Marshall says he's working on legislation to institute a DADT-style state law. His authority to do so, he claims, comes from the clause of the U.S. Constitution which reads, "reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia."

But Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who as the authority to deploy the state National Guard in a state emergency, says no way.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Rep. Lewis On DADT: 'Vote Yes Because Discrimination Is Wrong' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 15, 2010, 5:09PM

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) gave a brief but moving speech on the House floor today in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Lewis, a Civil Rights activist who was beaten while marching from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, said a vote to end DADT is a vote to end discrimination.

"I have just two words for you, my colleagues: Vote yes ... Vote yes for equality. Vote yes because discrimination is wrong," he said. "Vote yes because on the battlefield it doesn't matter who you love, only the flag that you serve."

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American Family Association

Social Conservative Bryan Fischer: Blame The Gays For WikiLeaks

David Taintor | December 9, 2010, 8:27AM

Conservative Radio Host Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the conservative Christian group the American Family Association, wrote on his blog this week that gays -- not Julian Assange -- are responsible for the thousands of government documents released by Assange's WikiLeaks.

More specifically, Fischer assumes that the alleged WikiLeaks source Private Bradley Manning was "at minimum" seriously confused about his sexuality. He then really stretches things when he suggests that Manning leaked the documents to wage war on the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

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Stephen Colbert

Colbert: It's Way Too Soon To Repeal DADT (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 8, 2010, 11:49AM

Stephen Colbert

Like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Stephen Colbert is a staunch proponent of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, saying it "is a testament to the American tolerance of all people we never find out are gay."

"In fact," Colbert added, "I bet I'm tolerating unknown gays in my audience right now. Let's see, if you're gay, don't tell me. It could be all of them ... yet I'm fine with not knowing that.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

McConnell: McCain Is Right On DADT (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 6, 2010, 9:26AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will follow Sen. John McCain's lead on Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, he said this weekend on "Meet The Press."

McCain, the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, spent much of last week's repeal hearings railing against a Pentagon report that the policy can be repealed with minimal damage.

McCain has vowed to block the bill from coming to the floor until more hearings are held.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Scott Brown Will Support DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 2:16PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) announced today that he intends to support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

After two days of hearings in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Brown, who serves on the committee, announced that he is supporting repeal.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

McCain On DADT Repeal: 'I Will Not Agree To Have This Bill Go Forward'

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 2:11PM

Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)

At the end of the today's hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced that he will still block the National Defense Authorization Act if it includes a repeal of the policy.

"I will not agree to have this bill go forward," he said. "Because our economy is in the tank."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Service Chiefs: Pro- Or Anti-Repeal, They Say The Military Can Do It

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 11:36AM

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George Casey, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, and vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright

The day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen again called for Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the joint chiefs themselves testified on Capitol Hill and, as promised, were "less sanguine" about repeal than their bosses.

But whether for or against repeal, they all said their branch could and would implement it.

"At the end of the day, we are Marines," said Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Should Congress change the law, then our nation's Marine Corps will faithfully support the law."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Jon Stewart Rips John McCain Over Don't Ask, Don't Tell (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 3, 2010, 10:10AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night lampooned Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) continued stalwart opposition to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, even after the Pentagon released its review indicating that a repeal of the ban on openly gay men and women would have little to no effect on military readiness.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Excuses, Excuses: Why Top GOPers Say They Can't Vote For DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 3:06PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson, and U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham

In his opening statement at a Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen systematically blew apart the classic attacks on repeal.

"Repeal of the law will not prove an unacceptable risk to military readiness. Unit cohesion will not suffer," Mullen said. "And families will not encourage their loved ones to leave the service in droves."

"And I find the argument that war is not the time to change to be antithetical with our own experience since 2001," he said. "War does not stifle change; it demands it."

He destroyed Sen. John McCain's suggestion that the opinions of the service chiefs were more important than those of Mullen. McCain had said Mullen "is not directly in charge of the troops."

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John McCain

The DADT Review Has Apparently Not Changed McCain's Mind

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 11:39AM

Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)

At today's hearing on the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review, Sen. John McCain made it clear that the Pentagon's review of the policy has not changed his mind.

McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, started saying last Sunday that the review itself wasn't done correctly, nine months after it was announced and two days before he would see the report.

Now that he's seen the report -- which concludes that repealing DADT would not harm the military's effectiveness or unit cohesion -- McCain has apparently not changed his mind.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Eyes On The Clock For DADT Repeal Advocates After Pentagon Report

Rachel Slajda | December 1, 2010, 10:45AM

A crowd protests "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" outside the White House

The release of the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review yesterday brought a collective sigh of relief from the gay advocacy and progressive organizations lobbying for the policy's repeal. Now, they say, they can zero in on the senators who told them this summer that they couldn't vote for repeal until the review was done.

"It's probably one of the best tools repeal advocates can us in the Senate lame duck session," Aubrey Sarvis, the head of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said yesterday.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Pentagon: No Separate Facilities For Gay Servicemembers

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 5:15PM

Marines aboard the USS Blue Ridge

One of the more contentious points of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell debate was whether the Pentagon was considering building separate barracks and showers for gay servicemembers, with some fearing a "separate but equal" mandate.

But the Pentagon report on how best to repeal the policy, released today, recommends no separate facilities, saying such a move would "wrongly isolate and stigmatize" gay troops.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Gates to Congress: Repeal DADT Now

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 2:17PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today urged the Senate to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell before the end of the year, saying a Pentagon review showed repeal won't damage troop readiness. He warned that those who vote against repeal are "rolling the dice," risking the courts overturning the policy by "judicial fiat" -- a move that would, he said, hurt the military.

The review, ordered by Gates, found that most troops don't care if they serve alongside homosexual colleagues. Some 70 percent of troops overall said repealing the law would have positive, mixed or no effects. And a whopping 92 percent, according to the AP, of troops who've worked with a gay service member said the experience was either good or neutral.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

DOJ Appeals Court Order To Reinstate Air Force Major Discharged Under DADT

Rachel Slajda | November 23, 2010, 6:43PM

The Obama administration has appealed a court decision ordering it to reinstate a gay former Air Force major discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

A federal judge ruled in September that former Maj. Margaret Witt should be reinstated to the Air Force. Witt, a decorated reservist flight nurse, had been suspended from the Air Force in 2004, after 17 years of service, and eventually discharged in October 2007. She sued to be reinstated during her discharge proceedings in 2006.

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Tony West

DOJ Official: Defending DADT, DOMA 'Difficult' For Administration

Ryan J. Reilly | November 22, 2010, 12:52PM

Assistant Attorney General Tony West

Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Justice Department told reporters Monday that defending Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act were "difficult" for the Obama administration.

"Those are difficult cases because as you know the administration has a long standing policy view on this -- supports the repeal of DOMA and supports the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'," West said in response to a question from TPM.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Responding To Pressure, Pentagon Will Release DADT Report One Day Early

Rachel Slajda | November 22, 2010, 10:38AM

Sec. of Defense Robert Gates

Responding to pressure from pro-repeal senators and gay groups, the Pentagon is releasing its study on how to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell before its Dec. 1 deadline -- one day before.

The Washington Post reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered the report be released on Nov. 30.

"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," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Supreme Court: Administration Can Continue To Enforce DADT For Now

Megan Carpentier | November 12, 2010, 2:05PM

Troops in Afghanistan in 2003

The Supreme Court this afternoon declined to halt the Obama Administration's enforcement of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy while an appeals courts decides whether to uphold a lower court ruling that the policy is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court denied without comment the Log Cain Republicans' request to vacate the stay issued by the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals on November 9, 2010. That stay stopped Judge Virginia Phillips' October injunction against enforcing DADT from going into full effect following her ruling that the policy is unconstitutional.

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Cindy McCain

Cindy McCain: 'Our Gov't Treats The LGBT Community Like Second Class Citizens' (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | November 12, 2010, 12:05PM

Cindy McCain appearing in a NoH8 campaign commercial.

Cindy McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), joined a number of celebrity supporters of the NoH8 Campaign -- originally designed to protest the passage of Proposition 8, California's anti-same sex marriage amendment -- in participating in a public service announcement about the bullying LGBT people face.

Ironically, her husband is currently at the center of the battle to prevent Democrats from repealing the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy (despite the results of the Pentagon's study that shows it would have little effect) during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Gates Calls For DADT Repeal In Lame Duck As Levin And McCain Discuss Stripping It

Rachel Slajda | November 8, 2010, 9:40AM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Australia on Sunday that he would like to see Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed in the lame duck session of Congress.

Asked if he saw any prospect for repeal of the policy in the lame duck, Gates replied, "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 and we'll just have to see."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Log Cabin Republicans Ask Supreme Court To Block DADT Enforcement

Rachel Slajda | November 5, 2010, 3:41PM

The Log Cabin Republicans, which is fighting Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the court system, today asked the Supreme Court to block an appeals court's decision to allow the military to enforce the policy.

Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the military could continue enforcing DADT while the federal government appeals a lower court's ruling that the policy is unconstitutional. The lower court had issued an injunction ordering the military to immediately stop enforcement.

The Log Cabin Republicans, which brought the original lawsuit, is now asking the Supreme Court to vacate the appeals court's stay of the lower court's injunction. In other words, they are trying again to end the enforcement of DADT immediately.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Potential House Armed Services Chair: 'Unwise' To Repeal DADT In Lame Duck

Rachel Slajda | November 5, 2010, 8:37AM

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)

Rep. Buck McKeon, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and a candidate for the chairmanship come January, doesn't think Congress should pass repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell during the lame duck session.

"I think that's unwise," McKeon said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters, noting that the Pentagon's review of how best to repeal the policy will not be released until early December.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Reid On DADT: 'I Think It's Something We Could Work Out' In Lame Duck

Rachel Slajda | November 3, 2010, 5:14PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that it is his "goal" to pass the Defense Authorization bill -- and with it, repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- in the Senate's lame-duck session, but warned that it'll be a tough squeeze.

According to The Hill, Reid said today that being able to pass the massive, traditionally must-pass funding bill will depend on Republican cooperation and support.

"The problem we have with the defense authorization bill is that it takes a while to get done," he said. "If we can get some agreement from the Republicans that we can move the bill without a lot of extraneous amendments, I think it's something we could work out. That would be my goal."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

To Repeal DADT, Gay GOP Group Zeroes In On Five Senators

Rachel Slajda | November 3, 2010, 9:21AM

U.S. Marines on patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan

In a perhaps unlikely twist in the battle to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it's a group of Republicans who may make the difference on whether the policy is axed this year.

The Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for gay Republicans, brought the lawsuit that resulted in DADT being ruled unconstitutional last September -- even though the government has been successful in staying the court's ruling pending appeal.

And it's the group that President Obama implored to deliver Republican votes when the Senate takes up repeal in the lame-duck session. But he's preaching, as Log Cabins executive director Clarke Cooper tells TPM, to the gay Republican choir.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Appeals Court Rules DADT Can Remain In Effect Pending Appeal

Rachel Slajda | November 1, 2010, 6:04PM

Troops in Afghanistan in 2003

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the military can continue enforcing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, while the government appeals a decision by a lower court that the policy is unconstitutional.

Today's decision extends a temporary emergency stay the court granted on Oct. 20, which froze an injunction, issued by circuit court Judge Virginia Philips, against the military enforcing DADT.

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