From the UM Maneater, which is "the official student newspaper of the University of Missouri, we see how members of Congress are talking about DADT repeal back home.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, supports repeal of DADT and voted for the compromise language on May 27th. But, her quotes show that it's not a done deal. She wanted her audience to know that Gates can prevent repeal from happening:
McCaskill said she was confident Secretary of Defense Robert Gates would exercise his power to veto the policy change if he feels it would negatively impact the military.Gates has been given a lot of power in the "certification" process, as has the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In fact, they've got a vote equal to that of their boss, the President.
“I’ve watched the Secretary of Defense,” McCaskill said. “He’s perfectly capable of independent judgment. This Secretary of Defense has served under [President] George [W.] Bush, is serving under President Obama, and I’ve watched him tell both presidents ‘No.'”
McCaskill seems to think it's a good thing that Gates could block repeal. That wasn't what we were led to believe would happen.
On Friday, I did a conference call with SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis. Here's part of that post:
Aubrey was clear that this process doesn't have to be dragged out. He was adamant that there is no reason why President Obama, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen cannot be ready to certify that the legislative conditions are met shortly after the Working Group's report is delivered on December 1, 2010.Aubrey is right. But, given quotes like the ones above from McCaskill, Gates may think he has been given the green light not only to drage out the process, but to prevent the repeal.
