Appearing on Fox News Sunday,
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said President Barack Obama might
reject a bill that repeals “Don' Ask, Don't Tell,” the AP
reported.
Late last month, the House approved a
version of the Defense Authorization Bill that includes Pennsylvania
Rep. Patrick Murphy's amendment that repeals the 1993 law that
forbids gay troops from serving openly. The Senate is expected to
take up the issue next month after the Senate Armed Services
Committee voted in favor of attaching similar repeal language to
their version of the defense bill.
Last fall, Obama promised the gay
community he would repeal the law.
“I will end 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell',”
Obama said in October at a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest gay rights advocate. “That is my
commitment to you.”
But Gates said Sunday that Obama
probably still would veto the spending bill if it includes defense
projects labeled as wasteful.
Gates said he would like to see the
bill shed a transport aircraft favored by some lawmakers.
Over 13,000 gay service members have
been fired under DADT.