Yes, DADT repeal could still pass, Senate staffers say

DADT Not Dead Yet
Wed Nov. 17, 2010 4:48 PM PST Very plugged in Staffers who are actively involved in counting votes for Senators who favor Repeal tell me [] they've received private indications from a handful of moderate GOP Senators that they could vote for Cloture on a Defense Authorization Bill with DADT Repeal in it — if Dem leaders agree to hold a sustained debate on the bill on the Senate floor. Here's why this is important: It throws the ball back into the court of Senator Harry Reid and the White ...

13 Senate Democrats Express Confidence on Votes to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
In a show of resolve, a baker’s dozen of Democratic senators, led by Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, held a News Conference to proclaim that they had secured the votes to authorize Repeal of the Military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy regarding gay Soldiers. But the senators said that the crucial support of Republicans would hinge on Senate Leaders allowing for a relatively free-flowing debate on the Military ...

Reid promises vote on 'don't ask, don't tell' in lame-duck session
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday promised he will call for a vote on the Military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” law when the Senate returns from its Thanksgiving break, in a last-minute effort to Repeal the law by the end of the year. Advocates for the Repeal believe they’ll have the votes to pass it when the time comes. But conservative Republicans in the chamber are still vowing to block that effort, and Democratic Leaders have...

Senate to vote on DADT repeal after Thanksgiving
Note: I've been on post-election Family Vacation/recharging, which is why I've been absent the last week or so, but now I'm back to writing. If you haven't seen the News last night, Sen. Reid committed to moving DADT Repeal via the defense authorization bill to the floor after the Thanksgiving recess. There are still a number of problems, one being that Sen.-elect Mark Kirk is set to take his seat on Monday, November 29th, depriving our side of one vote (Kirk voted against the successful amen...

Reid to Bring Defense Bill to the Floor with DADT Repeal Amendment
Key Senate leadership and Administration officials this evening met with representatives of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), and the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF). The officials told the groups that Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama are committed to moving forward on Repeal by bringing the National Defense Authorization Act - the bill to which “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal is attached R...

DADT Study Co-Chairman Doesnt Think Pentagon Will Be Able To Release Study Before Dec. 1
DADT Study Co-Chairman Doesn’t Think Pentagon Will Be Able To Release Study Before Dec. 1 Army Gen. Carter F. Ham — the co-chairman of the Pentagon’s Working Group on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) during his Confirmation Hearings this morning that he does not anticipate that the review group would be able to release its study of the policy before December 1, noting that the Service Chiefs were still ...

White House: Obama Calls Levin With "Commitment" to Lame-Duck DADT Repeal - Poliglot
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. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had, earlier in the day, told The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld at the press briefing that passage of the NDAA, with DADT Repeal, in the Lame-duck session of Congress is "in the same category"...

NWV News - FDA Food "Safety" Bill Poised For Senate Vote This Week
Take a look at that picture with all kinds of good stuff - fruits, veggies, nuts, milk, and yogurt. Now imagine it with one of those red circles over it, the kind with a line through to indicate everything therein is banned or off-limits. Hold that image in your mind because it’s what you can expect if the much-vaunted FDA Food Safety bill - now on the floor of the Senate -- is passed into law. The wipe-out won’t happen right away, but it will happen - gradually, o...

Karen Ocamb: White House, Democratic Senators Push for DADT Repeal This Year
Lieberman with DADT Repeal advocates. Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and several Democratic senators are holding a Press Conference Thursday morning to "show broad support for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the Lame Duck session" as part of the National Defense Appropriations Act, according to Lieberman's Press Secretary Erika Masonhall. The senators expected to join Lieberman at the Press Conference are both California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), Sen. K...

Amy Siskind: How the GOP Blew it on the Paycheck Fairness Act -- and Who the Biggest Cowards Were
Well, it didn't take long. The Republican Party was handed a historic opportunity with women. For the first time since the advent of exit polling data in 1982, women voters favored the GOP in the 2010 election. A rather shocking occurrence given that just two short years ago, President Obama had a 14 point advantage with women. What does the GOP do with this historic opportunity? Blow it! Today, The Senate voted 58-41 against allowing debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act. Not a single Republica...

Reid vows votes on 'don't ask,' DREAM act
Published: Nov. 18, 2010 at 7:39 AM U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to schedule votes during the Lame Duck session on two Controversial Bills blocked previously by Republicans. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to schedule votes during the Lame Duck session on two Controversial Bills blocked previously by Republicans. Reid said Wednesday he would bring to the floor the Defense authorization bill, which contains language tha...

Today in Congress
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader: FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 House Meets At: 10:00 a.m.: Legislative Business First Vote Predicted: 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. Last Vote Predicted: 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. "One Minutes" (10 per side) Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1722 - Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 (Rep. Sarbanes - Oversight and Government Reform)(Subject to a Rule) Suspensions (1 Bill) H.R. 6419 - Emergency Unemployment...

Incoming GOP senators demand say on New START
Ten of the new incoming Republican senators Thursday are planning to demand they get a say on the New START Treaty, adding ten new voices to the growing cacophony pushing for a delay in consideration of the Treaty until next year. "On Election Day we were elected to represent the constituents of our respective States in the Senate," the incoming Republicans wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), in a letter obtained by The Cable. "Out of respect for our states' vote...

Incoming GOP Senators Urge Reid to Wait on START
Incoming Sen.-elect Roy Blunt (R., Mo.), ever the whip, has gathered the signatures of nine other freshmen-to-be to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid not to consider New START during the Lame Duck. “Out of respect for our states’ voters, we believe it would be improper for the Senate to consider the New START Treaty or any other Treaty in a Lame Duck session prior to January 3, 2011,” the 10 future GOP senators said in a letter to Reid. . . . “Proponents of this trea...

Senate to Vote Again on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that he will call for a vote after Thanksgiving on Legislation that would allow Gays to serve openly in the Military. His announcement makes good on his pre-election promise to resurrect during the Lame-duck session Legislation that would Repeal the 1993 law known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But it remains far from certain whether the Legislation would have enough votes to pass. Several leading Republicans, including...

Senate Dems pressure Majority Leader Harry Reid to strike deal with GOP on military-gay debate
WASHINGTON — Some Senate Democrats are pressuring Majority Leader Harry Reid to strike a deal with Republicans to aid passage of a bill that would let Gays serve openly in the Military. A dozen Democrats and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, urged Reid Thursday to allow an extended debate on the wide-ranging defense authorization bill, which includes language repealing the 1993 law known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Lieberman said the Senate's desire to adjourn befo...

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, former Sgt. First Class Stacy Vasquez at Senate to push for DADT repeal
Just in from SLDN: Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a National, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), announced today that Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach and former Sergeant First Class Stacy Vasquez visited the Senate gallery to push for ...

President Obama Lobbies Sen. Carl Levin To Keep DADT In DOD Authorization Bill
Chris Geidner reports at Metro 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 cal...

Lieberman And Collins Urge Pentagon To Release Dont Ask, Dont Tell Study As Soon As Possible
Lieberman And Collins Urge Pentagon To Release Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Study ‘As Soon As Possible’ Politico’s Josh Gerstein reports that Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urging the Pentagon to release the Working Group’s study of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “as soon as possible”: Some of our colleagues in the Senate share our view about the importance of passing a def...

Reid to push DADT repeal
(CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) has said he will try to bring a measure to Repeal the Controversial Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy - which prevents gays from serving openly in the Military- to the Senate floor after Thanksgiving. "During the work period following the Thanksgiving holidays, I will bring the Defense Authorization bill to the floor, including a Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Our Defense Department supports repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' as a w...

Levin poised to strip DADT repeal from defense spending measure
A key supporter of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is poised to deal the Legislation a significant setback. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong supporter of repealing the law which bars Openly Gay people from serving in the Military, said Tuesday he will hold hearings on the upcoming Pentagon study about implementation of Repeal. Levin indicated, in his remarks to reporters Tuesday, that he is open to staging separate votes on DADT Repeal ...

Reid pressing on to pass Dream Act, repeal ban on gays in military
Republicans may not like it, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday he’s going to go ahead with bills to Repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the Military and provide undocumented College Students and Military recruits a chance to become American Citizens. In September, Reid attempted to use the annual defense authorization bill as a vehicle to pass both a Repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the Military, and the DREAM Act, w...

Powell: Advocates Should Not Pressure Congress To Repeal DADT Before It Is Ready, Study Completed
Powell: Advocates Should Not Pressure Congress To Repeal DADT Before It Is Ready, Study Completed This evening, during an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live, Gen. Colin Powell reiterated his belief that Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell must “take into account the views of our Military leaders,” but cautioned LGBT advocates against urging Congress to lift the ban before the Pentagon publishes its review of the policy. Asked if he agreed with Sen. John McCain’...

Sens. Pryor and Webb: Wait for DADT Report
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. While President Obama and most Democrats in Congress have voiced their support for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy on Gays in the Military, a few Senate Democrats are leaving open the option of voting against Repeal. Senator Jim Webb of Virginia said Wednesday that members should examine the Pentagon’s DADT report, which is set to be released on December 1, before making a decision. ...

Harry Reid Will Bring Up Immigration, Gay Rights Measures in Lame Duck
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced late Wednesday that he will bring two Controversial measures up for a vote in the Lame-duck session of Congress, a move that could be both measures' last chance of passage before Republicans take control of the House in January. The first bill, known as the DREAM Act, would give young Illegal Immigrants a path to Citizenship if they complete two years of college or two years in the Military. To qualify, they also must have come to the country before th...