DADT Repeal Dies in Senate Over Failed Leadership and Bush Tax Cuts

As we started the day Thursday we had so much hope that a deal would be struck in the senate and the National Defense Authorization Act containing DADT repeal would pass with the 60 needed votes to override a republican filibuster. The deal proposed by Republicans Susan Collins (ME), Scott Brown (MA) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) was that they would support repeal, provided the senate took up the issue of whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts, which included not just extending cuts for the wealthy, but for the rest of us as well.

They didn't say their support depended on passing the cuts, just bringing up for a vote before any other business. Sounds reasonable, right?

Due to the inept leadership of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Armed Services Chair Carl Levin, the senate chose to push the NDAA to the head of the line, we lost those three key votes and one more from WVa Democrat Joe Manchin, killing repeal as part of the military spending package, which seemed to be our best chance for getting it done.

Reid blamed the defeat on Republican obstructionism, telling the Huffington Post, "It's clear that Republicans don't want to hold a vote on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' They want to block a bill on this at all costs, even if it means not passing the defense authorization bill for the first time in 48 years."

For her part, Collins said yesterday, "I thought we were extremely close to getting to an agreement yesterday." She added, "I think there was such a clear path to get this done and I am perplexed and frustrated that this important bill is going to become the victim of politics."


Senator Joe Lieberman is refusing to admit defeat and proposes a stand-alone bill for DADT repeal. He contends it would be easier to get to 60 votes, including Collins, Brown and Murkowski with a stand-alone bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hammering together a house version, which she says can be pushed though congress during the lame duck session. President Obama has also expressed support for the stand-alone bill.

I want to point out that both Virginia senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, who each said they were reserving their support for repeal pending the release of the DADT repeal study, voted for repeal yesterday. Please take a minute today to thank them both.Click the links above to send them an email.

It's looking more and more as though our best chance for winning the right to serve openly remains in the pending federal court challenge.

There will be a rally today at 12:00 noon at the intersection of Constitution Ave. and Delaware Ave., NE, Upper Senate Park, North of U.S. Capitol in Washington, calling on the senate to stay in town until this thing is done. Aubrey Sarvis of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network released a statement this morning, which says, in part:

“We need to be on the bill that moves, period. We support Sen. Lieberman’s plan to move a standalone bill. We also believe another viable option is the Continuing Resolution (CR) coming over from the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate and the President must remain in session and in Washington to find another path for repeal to get done in the lame-duck. We implore all who support repeal to join us TODAY outside the Senate at noon’, said Aubrey Sarvis, Army veteran and executive director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Related articles

• Dadt Fail: 57-40 (themoderatevoice.com)
• Breaking: Hope For DADT Legislative Repeal Dies [Asking And Telling] (jezebel.com)
• White House, Pelosi Signal Support For Standalone DADT Repeal Bill (huffingtonpost.com)
• DADT Repeal Fails (slog.thestranger.com)
• Senate Republicans kill DADT repeal (again) (washingtonmonthly.com)
• DADT repeal dies on the battlefield (bilerico.com)

DADT Repeal Hinges on Renewing Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

What a day it was for back room deal making on Capital Hill Wednesday, as reports came out that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was set to bring the National Defense Authorization Act to a vote last night. There was so much back and forth with what was or wasn't happening or going to happen throughout the day that it was like watching a really bad game of ping pong with your civil rights. By the end of the night, the only balls in play were being held firmly by Republican Susan Collins, who spent the afternoon negotiating with Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who was picked by the president to oversee DADT repeal.

As it stands right now, the potential votes are so close that Collins and two other key Republicans will determine whether or not gay and lesbian troops can serve openly, but their support comes at a hefty price: the extension of the Bush tax cuts that President Obama promised to repeal during his campaign and for the first two years of his presidency.

Democrats are furious with the president for caving in to GOP blackmail. The Big O will be furiously working the phones over the next couple of days, desperately trying to convince his party that this is the best deal he could make. Obama is turning out to be the best president Republicans could have hoped for as he leaves his supporters in the rear view mirror.

If this deal goes through, it puts the LGBT community squarely in the cross hairs for retribution if this gamble on economic stimulus doesn't work. What the GOP also gets in this deal is the ability to offer up to 10 amendments to the defense bill, with the Dems getting only five. 

Collins released the following statement Wednesday night:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who supports repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” released this statement tonight.

“Senator Joe Lieberman and I continue to negotiate in good faith with the Majority Leader to try and come up with a fair process under which the important Defense Authorization bill could be considered in the limited time remaining in this session. Without a fair process, the motion to proceed to the bill would likely fail in the U.S. Senate.

"Senator Lieberman and I requested a meeting with Senator Harry Reid last week during which we outlined a specific plan for allowing debate and amendments similar to how the Senate has considered the authorization bill in the past.

"It wasn’t until 1:35 pm today that I received a legitimate offer from Senator Reid, which I consider a good starting point. We made a counter offer which would provide sufficient time for debate, and includes protections to help ensure that Republicans would be able to offer a limited but fair number of amendments that are relevant to this legislation.

"I am encouraged that the Majority Leader decided to postpone the vote he had scheduled for tonight. I urged him to do this so that we could consider the tax legislation first, which I believe could be on the floor as early as tomorrow and completed quickly. At that point, I believe we could move immediately to the Defense Authorization bill under a fair agreement, and I would vote to do so. I would hope he carefully considers our proposal. I believe we have outlined a very clear path forward for the Majority Leader to take that would allow this very important debate to occur."

Related articles

• Murkowski Support for 'DADT' Repeal Puts 60 Votes Within Reach (towleroad.com)
• UPDATE: Senate Negotiations Fast and Furious as Endgame for 'DADT' Repeal Looms (towleroad.com)
• Where things stand on DADT (washingtonmonthly.com)
• Collins positioned to kill DADT repeal (washingtonmonthly.com)

UPDATE: Reid Says He'll Take Up Defense Bill This Evening

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced this afternoon that he we take up the NDAA, the defense spending bill that includes DADT repeal, later this afternoon or possibly this evening.
 
Via San Diego Gay and Lesbian News:

WASHINGTON – Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to call up the defense bill containing the DADT repeal later today.

Reid announced his plans during a speech on the Senate floor this morning.

“I’m likely going to move to my motion to reconsider on the Defense Authorization Act this evening. Allowing, as I will indicate at that time, time for amendments to that piece of legislation,” Reid said.

Advocates of the DADT repeal are concerned, however, that this sudden development could backfire because they have not had enough time to persuade enough Republicans to support the effort.

“We expect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will try again today to take up the defense bill that includes repeal. Reid is actively reaching out to his Republican colleagues to reach an agreement on how to proceed,” said Army veteran Aubrey Sarvis, executive director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

“We also know from Hill sources the President is actively working today’s vote with key Republican senators. Today the Senate has an opportunity to make the nation’s defense funding and our service members a higher priority than tax cuts for millionaires,” he said.

Related articles

• SLDN Holding 'Mission: Incomplete' Rally to Demand Senate Stay in Session and Repeal 'DADT' (towleroad.com)
• Rally To Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell Tomorrow (lezgetreal.com)
• Harry Reid May Cancel Senate Christmas Break In Order to Repeal DADT (lezgetreal.com)
• DADT still holding up defense budget bill - Army News | News from ... (armytimes.com)

DADT: Senate vote could, maybe, possibly happen today

Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, the senate could vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) containing the language to repeal DADT. Majority Leader and all-around tool Senator Harry Reid has taken a lot of heat this week for putting more importance on his Xmas vacation than actually doing his damn job. The senate is scheduled to adjourn for this session on December 17th, a week before the big economic stimulus day.

If the stars align in just the right way, we might see some action today. Roll Call is reporting that since the Dems are hating the president for continuing Bush's tax cuts for the rich and the GOP is blocking or threatening to block just about everything else on Reid's schedule, the senate has nothing else to do, so they might as well vote on funding the military and letting the gays serve openly:

It is unclear whether Democrats would have enough votes to break a filibuster on that bill — a number of Republicans support repeal, while some Democrats oppose it.

But even if he does have the votes, Reid could be forced to drop the issue altogether once his Caucus comes to terms with the tax cut deal. With less than two weeks until the Senate is expected to adjourn, Republican opponents could drag out the DADT debate for days, eating up time needed to pass the tax cuts and continuing resolution before Christmas.

The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld reports:

Democrats might make use of a narrow window of down time if the four bills scheduled for a vote Wednesday fail to garner the 60 votes necessary to proceed to debate. Those bills include a firefighters collective bargaining bill, the DREAM Act, a 9/11 firefighters health compensation measure, and a measure extending a one-time $250 payment to senior citizens. If all fail, the NDAA could be brought to a vote by sometime Wednesday afternoon.

After two years of failed leadership, foot-dragging and general douchbaggery, it's so nice of them to pencil us in. When you were a kid, did you ever have to write a book report that you were given weeks to work on, but didn't start reading the book until 8pm the night before it was due? It's a lot like that.

Related articles

• Senate could vote Wednesday on Defense bill with DADT language (americablog.com)
• The Week Ahead in DADT Repeal (bilerico.com)
• Harry Reid May Cancel Senate Christmas Break In Order to Repeal DADT (lezgetreal.com)

With just days left, will DADT repeal happen?

With the clock ticking down on the remaining 10 days of the lame duck legislative session, is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid more interested in heading home for the holidays than fulfilling his promise to end DADT? According to reports, repeal doesn't appear anywhere on the legislative calendar.

The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart reports that some legislators are willing to roll up their sleeves and work through the holidays to get this done:

Yesterday, I called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to keep the chamber in session until it acted on the shameful policy, which is part of the larger defense authorization bill known as NDAA. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) endorsed the idea. As did Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who said in a release, "I'm willing to stay through Christmas and New Year's, if that's what it takes" to get work done on NDAA and other issues. By the afternoon, Reid gave a floor speech where he urged his colleagues to "roll up our sleeves - not dig in our heels" in "the final weeks of this year...."

The vagueness of Reid's timetable is noteworthy because he had set Dec. 17 as the Senate's adjournment date. President Obama, scheduled to take off for Christmas vacation in Hawaii on Dec. 18, must tell the Senate he's willing to stick around. He delayed his departure last year to ensure the Senate passed the health-care reform bill. What's at stake in the NDAA is no less important.

Related articles

• Harry Reid May Cancel Senate Christmas Break In Order to Repeal DADT (lezgetreal.com)
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Lieberman Says There Are Enough Votes to Repeal DADT

The Advocate is reporting that Senator Joe Lieberman said in a press conference Thursday that there are the necessary 60 votes in the senate to pass DADT repeal as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the bill that provides funding for the next year's military operations.

The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld reports:

“I am confident that we have more than 60 votes prepared to take up the defense authorization with the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ if only there will be a guarantee of a fair and open amendment process, in other words, whether we’ll take enough time to do it,” Lieberman told reporters at a press conference, naming GOP senators Susan Collins and Richard Lugar as yes votes. “Time is an inexcusable reason not to get this done.”

Lieberman, an independent, was flanked by 12 of his Democratic colleagues — a core group that seemed intent on urging the Democratic leadership to allow enough room in the Senate schedule for a debate that would be acceptable to Republicans. The senators talked about working over the weekends, and Sen. Mark Udall offered to go straight through until Christmas Eve.

Related articles

• Democrats make headway on DADT repeal (shortformblog.com)
• Joe Lieberman: We've Got 60 Repeal Votes in The Bag, Yo (queerty.com)
• Lieberman: DADT Repeal Has The Votes If Republicans Get The Debate Time They Want (huffingtonpost.com)
• Lieberman says 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal not dead (cnn.com)

Breaking: Harry Reid Commits to Vote on DADT

Representatives for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told a group of LGBT activists this afternoon that the Nevada Senator is committed to bringing Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal to a vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act after the Thanksgiving recess.
Kerry Eleveld of The Advocate reports:

“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 — to the floor in the lame-duck session after the Thanksgiving recess,” read a joint statement from the Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and the Center for American Progress, which all had a presence at the meeting.

The White House aides present at the negotiations included deputy chief of staff Jim Messina and director of legislative affairs Phil Schiliro as well as Chris Kang, special assistant to the president for legislative affairs, and Brian Bond, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Majority leader Reid was represented by his chief of staff, David Krone, and his senior counsel, Serena Hoy.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had asked the majority leader to take up the bill after the Pentagon issues its report and following hearings he plans to hold on the matter, “which should take place during the first few days of December.”

"I will work hard to overcome the filibuster so that 'don’t ask, don’t tell' is repealed and the NDAA --- which is critical to our national security and the well-being of our troops --- is adopted," he said.

In a related story, GetEqual Co-Founder Robin McGehee was called to the White House this afternoon for a private meeting with Bryan Bond, just two days after being arrested with a group of twelve other DADT protesters, including Lt. Dan Choi and Justin Elzie, who fought his dismissal under DADT and served four more years as on out and proud gay soldier.

McGehee told LezGetReal's Melanie Nathan, that she went to the White House determined to bring transparency to the issue and refused to promise not to discuss what went on behind closed doors. She tols Nathan, “when the White House found out that the bloggers had been informed and broken the news of our meeting they were angry. But I told them that I was not willing to do any back room deals – but that I wanted to be transparent. That I wanted my LGBT community to see and hear everything that happens.  It is their equality at stake and they deserve that." She added that she would rather leave than not be transparent.

Bond told McGehee that under those terms, he would listen, but not speak, because he did not want his words to be "used against them."

Bond took notes while McGehee spelled out the following list of demands (from LezGetReal):

McGehee told him that she would like to hear from the White House where LGBT equality legislation stood, specifically that she wanted to hear about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

She asked for an Executive Order by years end.  She asked why the White House was not going ahead with an executive order to stop discharges; she said the LGBT community was insisting on it at the very least; Why is DADT different from any other legislation? Why is the President not pushing and persuading Senator Snowe and Collins, the fence sitters? Why is the President not spending some political capital here for DADT?

She told Bond that not one single member of the Military should be discharged and that the President ought to be reflecting that by his actions.

Mr.  Bond told Robin that they  are working as hard as they can; saying “ we want to see that happen” – Robin pushed further and said there is a difference between wanting to make it happen and making it happen. It must happen.

McGehee said although she was there about DADT- she could not allow the opportunity to be exclusive to that as the only LGBT issue; and so she pulled out a picture of her two children and introduced them to the group.  She said that Although she realized DOMA may not be repealed at this time, she wanted the President to revert to his old pre- Presidential campaign position on marriage equality where he did support same sex marriage.  “Everyday  that our families live without dignity, the President should think of going back to his original stand  and he must support marriage equality- as person of faith he  should think of our dignity.  Remember he came out and said that his religious beliefs precluded him from endorsing same-sex marriage for gays- well,  as a person of faith the President ought to reflect on his denying our families and community the right to live with dignity.

Additionally she asked that the White House stop all future Federal Contracts that do not include protections for Transgender people; and she informed him it was her belief that if in fact this happened it would encourage more corporations who wanted to Contracts to do the same.

The interesting thing about McGehee's meeting is that it was reported before the Reid announcement was made. The other groups were meeting with White House staff and Reid's reps separately, presumably afterward. Had McGehee agreed to not disclose what went on in the meeting, she probably would been part of the closed door meeting. Kudos to Robin for sticking to her guns. The fact that she was invited to the White House just two days after GetEqual's direct action is a sign that the powers that be are paying attention and that there is room at the table for everyone.

The other side of the coin is that, by shutting her out of the main meeting, the White House was demonstrating that there are rules to be followed and consequences for not following them. It sucks, but it's the way the game is played ion DC.
Who knows, we may just pull it off in the eleventh hour of this legislative session. Keep your fingers crossed and your eyes and ears wide open.

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• Gay Groups: Harry Reid Will Bring Defense Bill to the Floor with the 'DADT' Repeal Measure Attached (towleroad.com)
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White House Opposes Stripping DADT from Defense Bill

After word came out in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been canoodling with John McCain in an attempt to work out a deal  pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without DADT repeal language, the White House released a statement reiterating the president's alleged commitment to repealing DADT during the current legislative session.
The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld reports:

A top White House official issued a statement Monday evening saying the administration does not approve of any attempt to remove “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal from the Defense funding bill to which it is currently attached.

“The White House opposes any effort to strip 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from the National Defense Authorization Act,” said Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Defense Secretary Robert Gates appears to be breaking from his position that a vote on repeal should wait until after the results of the Pentagon Working Group's study on the impact of getting rid of the discriminatory policy that a majority of Americans believe should go. Eleveld continues:

While traveling in Australia over the weekend, Defense secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to pass the bill with the repeal measure before the end of the year.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called the remarks “extraordinary” since Gates has consistently asked lawmakers to wait until the Defense Department’s study of repeal is issued.

“This is the first time Secretary Gates has been on the record and calling for passage before the Pentagon working group report comes out,” Sarvis said. “I think the secretary is generally aware of the recommendations that are going to be coming from General [Carter] Ham and the working group.”

Back in Washington, Harry Reid continues to be a pimple on the ass of progress, blaming his failure to lead on the Republican minority.

A spokesman for Senate majority leader Harry Reid echoed Gates’s comments Monday, saying Reid “strongly supports” repeal but adding that Senate Republicans stood in the way of progress. Democrats failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to advance the defense bill to debate in September after Republicans mounted a successful filibuster.

“The senator needs Republicans to at least agree to have a debate on this issue — a debate he firmly believes the Senate should have,” said Jim Manley. “It's unfortunate that Senator McCain — who previously expressed support for the repeal of this law — and other Senate Republicans are ignoring the advice of our military leaders to reverse this discriminatory policy that not only harms our men and women in uniform, but also our national security.”

Alex Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United told the Advocate, "Senate majority leader Reid's office is simply ignoring the well-established fact that we indeed do have the votes to proceed on defense authorization, including Republican votes, if he would just bring the bill up under normal procedural conditions. If he firmly believes the Senate should have this debate this year, then he will bring the bill back up next week and allow us to move forward on NDAA and DADT repeal.”

Related articles

• White House does not Approve Removal of DADT from Defense Funding Bill (lezgetreal.com)
• WSJ: 'DADT Repeal' to Be Stripped from Defense Bill, Die Alone (towleroad.com)
• HRC's Shocking Candor: Dropping DADT Repeal From Defense Bill 'Has Always Been A Possibility' (queerty.com)
• White House: We Oppose Any Effort to Strip 'DADT' from Defense Bill (towleroad.com)
• White House opposes defense bill without 'Don't Ask' repeal ... (washingtonblade.com)

Gaga Rallies in Maine as Senate Prepares to Vote on DADT (video)

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) hits the Senate today for a vote on cloture, a procedure that puts a time limit on debate over legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is hoping to avoid a Republican filibuster over the inclusion on language in the bill which would repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).

Even without the DADT repeal language, NDAA faces some tough obstacles. The bill includes $500 million in funding for a controversial jet engine that nobody, including the president, wants to fund. If the vote does not take place before the November elections, then it it not likely to happen until next year. Support is still too close to call. The 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster may not be there.

Lady Gaga appeared at a rally Monday in Portland, Maine, called 4THE14K, referring to the 14 thousand service men and women dismissed under DADT since it became law in 1993. The bisexual pop diva addressed a a crowd estimated at 2,000 in an effort to get moderate Republican Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to commit to crossing the aisle and voting for repeal. The two have indicated in the past that they would support overturning the discriminatory policy, but now may be waffling.

It's not too late to get involved. Call your senators today and tell them to support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The number for the congressional switchboard in DC is 202-224-3121.

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DADT, ENDA Legislative Update

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you the latest info on the status of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) repeal and where we are with passage of the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" (ENDA). I received the following e-mail this afternoon from my friend and contact at HRC, Terry McGuire. I thought I'd share it with you all:

Hello Friends and Advocates,

Sorry for the mass email, but I wanted to reach as many of you as possible with an update on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

Frankly, there isn’t much new information since earlier in the summer. Congress is currently not in session during the August recess, and most members of Congress are home campaigning.  Congress will return to session on Monday, September 13th.

HRC continues to push for a Senate vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes DADT repeal. Senator Reid indicated that he would like to take the bill up in September. It’s important to keep the pressure on Senate leadership as well as rank and file Senators. The number of congressional work days in September is limited, and there are many bills awaiting Senate action. Because it will take some time to reconcile the differences in the House and Senate versions of the NDAA before the bill reaches the President’s desk, it’s critically important that we push for a Senate vote in September.

As for Virginia’s Senators, I would encourage you to continue applying friendly pressure on Senator Warner. Unfortunately, we do not expect Senator Webb to change his position and support repeal this year. If you are inclined to express disappointment with his office, please remember that he has supported the LGBT community on other issues and we should remain respectful and polite.

Regarding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), we continue to push for a House vote before the end of the year.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has said that she is committed to House action on the bill this year. A House vote on a fully inclusive ENDA would be a significant and historic event. A Senate vote on ENDA looks very difficult this year.

If you have not already done so, please contact your representatives and senators regarding ENDA and DADT repeal. Our Countdown 2010 site is a great tool to help you contact your elected officials. Visit www.countdown2010.hrc.org for more information.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the upcoming elections. This is expected to be a particularly bad year for our fair-minded incumbents. A lot of our friends will likely lose their seats, making our work even more challenging next year and in the years to come. I would strongly encourage you to get as involved as possible in your local races, particularly if you live in an area with a hotly contested election. To learn more about the competitive races around the country, try taking a peek at  www.cqpolitics.com

Thanks again for all that you have done in the movement to repeal DADT. I firmly believe that all of the hard work will pay off very soon. In about a week I will be deploying to Minnesota to work on that state’s gubernatorial race. We are optimistic that if we can elect Mark Dayton (D) as the next governor from Minnesota that the legislature would work to pass a marriage equality bill to send to his desk. Dayton is strongly pro-marriage equality, so Minnesota might well be the next state to enact full marriage equality! While I expect to remain very busy, please don’t hesitate to email or call if there is anything at all I be helpful with….or if you just want to say hello.

All the best, and I’ll see you around!

Terry McGuire
Western Regional Field Organizer | Human Rights Campaign
1640 Rhode Island Ave., NW | Washington DC | 20036
c: 202-294-0784
terry.mcguire@hrc.org | www.hrc.org

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Pelosi on ENDA and DADT: "I have no intention of losing either of these."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a conference call Monday with LGBT advocacy groups to spell out her plans to move forward on LGBT legislation during the current congressional session. The Advocate reports:

The speaker relayed different avenues to passing both “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act this year and solicited feedback from advocates, according to two participants of the call.

“I have no intention of losing on either of these,” Pelosi said, according to one person on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A second participant said the speaker discussed the timing of taking a vote on ENDA relative to a DADT repeal vote, which is automatically built into the calendar for next week based on the fact that the House is scheduled to consider the National Defense Authorization Act that week. A DADT repeal measure is likely to be proposed on the House floor as an amendment to the defense bill.

The second source said the speaker went through the chronology of the calendar and the fact that taking a vote on ENDA and DADT in the same week is literally impossible from a scheduling standpoint. Pelosi also said she thought ENDA would have a much better likelihood of passing if DADT repeal were successfully ushered through first.

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