Is the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal DOA?

By SCOTT WONG & GORDON LUBOLD

A repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell?” Don’t bet on it.

The window for action on reversing the ban on gays in the military is quickly closing, and the path to undoing the 17-year-old law is riddled with roadblocks: a crowded lame-duck calendar, Democratic defectors, and emboldened Republican senators who have no desire to hand a legislative victory to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

If Democrats fail to pass the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” next month — before Republicans take control of the House in January — it could be years before they get another shot.

“Unless Democrats completely neglect the tax-hike issue and everything else they’ve been talking about lately, like the DREAM Act, the START treaty and controversial nominees, they won’t be able to finish it,” said one senior Senate GOP aide.

The repeal of “don’t ask” has been attached to the defense authorization bill, and Senate Republicans have already blocked the bill once before over this issue.

And while advocates scrape for 60 votes to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” there is no clear path to passage if the repeal remains embedded in the larger defense bill.

Reid (D-Nev.) pledged this week to bring the bill to the floor again next month, saying Congress must end “this discriminatory policy so that any American who wants to defend our country can do so.” And Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who has led the fight for repeal, said Thursday he was “confident” there are at least 60 votes in the Senate to overcome another GOP filibuster.

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