Chris Geidner of MetroWeekly (who has been a fountain of LGBT political news) just reported that President Obama has indeed picked up the phone and spoken with several senators, telling them to pass the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill, as part of the NDAA military spending bill.
This is a pretty big deal, as on Monday an aide from Senator Harry Reid’s office stated unequivocally that the “White House has not been engaged†on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal.
It’s also a big deal because Levin has stated he may have to split the bills, forcing an up or down vote on the DADT bill alone, without cover from the NDAA.
Geidner writes that “[White House spokesman Shin] Inouye wrote, ‘Today, President Obama called Chairman Levin to reiterate his commitment on keeping the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the National Defense Authorization Act, and the need for the Senate to pass this legislation during the lame duck.’
“He added, ‘The President’s call follows the outreach over the past week by the White House to dozens of Senators from both sides of the aisle on this issue.'”
Could this have anything to do with GetEQUAL’s White House fence chaining, picketing at the Deputy Chief’s meeting, or with GetEQUAL co-founder Robin McGehee’s meeting today with Brian Bond, the Deputy Director of the Office of Public Engagement?…