Obama begins looking at DADT reversal

The president is consulting with advisors about lifting the ban on gays in the military, but action might not be imminent.

Published March 3, 2009 8:10PM (EST)

President Obama is now consulting with some of his top advisors on how to go about ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military, the White House says.

This isn't by itself necessarily good news for opponents of the policy. The Associated Press notes that "The move enables Obama to say he's making good on his campaign promise to reverse the law, but doesn't lock him into doing so anytime soon." The wire service also observes that a statement from a White House spokesman on the issue "leaves enough wiggle room to prevent the hot-button issue from consuming Obama's foreign policy agenda, which is dominated by ending the Iraq war and salvaging operations in Afghanistan."

The administration's hand has been forced by fellow Democrats like Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif, who has introduced legislation to repeal the policy.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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