'Don't Ask' Repeal Hits the Skids

It looks like the effort to repeal of the military gay ban 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' may be over, or at least put on the back burner when Republicans take over the House of Representatives in January. Although President Obama claims he wants to overturn the policy, Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) are in talks to remove the proposed repeal from an upcoming defense spending bill. Earlier this year, the bill failed to win the 60 Senate votes needed to ensure passage in the Senate. Several military analysts said the repeal is unlikely, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said over the weekend that he would “like to see the repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are.” The Pentagon is conducting a study into the matter with results expected on December 1, and a federal judge has ruled the policy unconstitutional, although that ruling has been put on hold.