Senate to hold hearings on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Congress moves, slowly, towards ending the military's controversial policy

Published July 27, 2009 6:01PM (EDT)

It's taken quite a while, but Congress finally seems ready to move on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy that prevents gays from serving in the military.

As my friend Steve Benen notes, on the House side of things, a bill to overturn DADT now has 164 co-sponsors. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has announced that the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the policy this fall.

At this point, it does seem inevitable that Congress will, at some point, repeal DADT. The question is just how long it will take -- it's not exactly a priority so far, and there's no pressure coming from the White House to make it one. And if nothing happens until next year, there's the issue of whether supporters of repeal might lose some votes because it'll be an election year. Public support heavily favors ending DADT, but that might not be enough to keep everyone in the fold.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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