Strategies emerging for lame-duck passage of DADT repeal

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Ray of Hope for Repeal of Military's Gay Ban

Advocates of ending "don't ask, don't tell" hanging on to up-or down vote.


Last night, President Obama strongly urged the Senate to repeal the ban before the end of the lame-duck session, a point that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated this morning in a session with reporters.

Advocates hope that the bill's brevity--five pages--will reduce the number of procedural objections to it. In the past week, five senators who previously opposed repeal said that the Pentagon working group's report had changed their minds, bringing to 62 the number of senators who have gone on record in favor of ending the ban.

Still, Reid would have to allocate at least 60 hours to debate the bill because of expected Republican objections. His actions are being closely watched; if Reid comes up with a reasonable way to schedule the bill, it has a decent chance of passing.

If the Senate passes a stand-alone bill, the House would have to pass the same measure to avoid other procedural roadblocks.

A few other options are being considered, including a scenario in which the House takes up the bill first, and then sends it to the Senate, where Reid would deem it a matter of importance--a privileged motion--and begin debate. Or, Reid could add it to another piece of legislation that's being considered and send it back to the House, which can use the privileged-motion procedure to debate and pass it.


read: http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/ray-of-hope-for-repeal-of-military-s-gay-ban-20101210

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