Senate blocks repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'

Senate blocks repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speak at a news conference following the defeat of a cloture motion of the Defense Authorization Bill containing repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' provision on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans blocked a last-ditch effort in the Senate to lift the military's ban on openly gay troops on Thursday, dealing a major blow to gay rights groups and making it unlikely Congress could repeal "don't ask, don't tell" any time soon.

The 57-40 vote fell three short of the 60 needed to overcome procedural hurdles to lift the 17-year-old ban. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican voting to advance the bill, and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat to vote against it.

The rejection was a defeat for President Barack Obama, who campaigned promising to overturn the law and later called it one of his top legislative priorities for the year. But in the end, the White House did little to push the legislation, focusing its influence instead on tax cuts and a nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

Repeal advocates said the fight wasn't over, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seemed to have little appetite to return to the subject with only a week left in the lame-duck session and other major legislation pending.

"The other side may feel passionately that our military should sanction discrimination based on sexual orientation, but they are clearly in the minority," Reid, D-Nev., said of Republicans. "And they have run out of excuses."

Gay rights advocates were furious because the Senate vote failed largely because of a procedural disagreement.

"Instead of doing what is right, the world's greatest deliberative body devolved into shameful school yard spats that put petty partisan politics above the needs of our women and men in uniform," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group.

The 1993 law bans gay troops from publicly acknowledging their sexual orientation. A repeal provision was included in a broader defense policy bill and passed last spring in the House.

More than 60 senators were expected to support repeal, with at least four Republicans having said they support overturning "don't ask, don't tell."

But GOP senators were united in demanding that the Senate vote on tax cuts first. They also wanted assurances by Reid they would be given extensive time debate on the defense bill, which contained other divisive provisions including one that would allow abortions at overseas military facilities.

Democrats had said Thursday morning they remained hopeful a last-minute deal could be struck with Collins, believing her support would persuade other GOP senators - namely Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski - to advance the legislation.

In the end, however, Reid said time was running out and called for a vote before a deal could be struck.

Collins said she didn't understand why Reid wasn't doing more to accommodate GOP concerns.

"There was such a clear path for us to be able to get this done," she said on the Senate floor. "I'm perplexed and frustrated that this important bill will become victim of politics."

The Senate vote came after former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn announced in an interview with The Associated Press that he thinks gays could serve openly without damaging the armed forces' ability to fight. Nunn, who had led opposition to gays in the military in 1993, said he would advise that the Pentagon be given at least a year to prepare troops for the change.

"Society has changed, and the military has changed," the former senator from Georgia said.

Last week, the Pentagon unveiled a study that found two-thirds of troops thought repealing "don't ask, don't tell" would have little impact on their unit's ability to fight.

Still, the service's top uniformed leaders cautioned about overturning the policy too soon.

In congressional testimony last week, three of the four service chiefs said they would oppose lifting the ban during wartime because of resistance among combat troops.

While most troops signaled they didn't care if gays served openly, nearly 60 percent of the Marine Corps and Army soldiers in combat arms units predicted problems would arise.

Manchin said he voted against the bill because repeal shouldn't happen while troops are fighting in Afghanistan.

"I think it's going to happen and probably should happen as far as our repealing it," he said. But "it's a timeliness issue with me. There's a war going on."