A promised Republican filibuster this week by Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) prevented the Senate from moving forward on the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers.
The bill is not expected to advance until December, if at all.
Supporters of the repeal failed to generate the 60 votes needed for cloture Tuesday afternoon that would have sent a defense-spending bill, to which the repeal language is attached, to the Senate floor for debate.
The motion to bring the bill up for debate failed 56-43, with all Republicans voting against debate, as well as Democrats Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.). Reid supports repeal and reportedly voted against the cloture vote so that he can, per Senate rules, raise the issue for reconsideration in the future.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, said the vote was the result of “political maneuvering” in advance of November’s midterm elections.
Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, agreed Tuesday that the failure to move the bill forward was “simply inexcusable.”
“Today’s vote is a failure of leadership on the part of those who have been duly elected to service this nation and to put the best interests of the country ahead of partisan politics,” Nicholson said. “The Senate could learn a good lesson from those who serve in uniform and who stand to benefit from proceeding to debate on this bill — serving this country means putting politics aside and getting the job done.”
Sarvis said supporters of repeal have a “slim shot” at getting the measure up for a vote in the Senate during the lame-duck session this fall.
“Let’s be clear: Opponents to repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ did not have the votes to strike those provisions from the bill. Instead, they had the votes for delay,” Sarvis said. “Time is the enemy here. The Senate absolutely must schedule a vote in December … once midterm elections are behind us.”
The House approved the measure, sponsored in that chamber by Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th Dist.), earlier this year. Supporters anticipated having enough votes to secure Senate approval until last week, when it became clear that Reid would not allow Republican amendments to the defense bill until after midterm elections.
Robert Gibbs, spokesperson for President Obama, said the chief of staff was “disappointed” in Tuesday’s Senate proceeding.
The Obama administration released a statement on the defense-authorization bill Tuesday before the vote, expressing support for the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” clause, citing the amendment’s stipulation that full repeal cannot be completed until the current Pentagon review of the policy is completed and the president and military officials sign off on the policy change.
The statement said the repeal amendment would “enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review, and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistent with the standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention. Such an approach recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process … ”
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” review is due Dec. 1.
A district court ruled that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was unconstitutional earlier this month, and the Department of Justice is expected to appeal this ruling.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].