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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Court – Now What?

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Late yesterday, in California, a federal district court ruled that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” violates servicemembers’ first and fifth amendment rights, and is therefore unconstitutional.

So, our LGBT brothers and sisters can serve openly and all servicemembers discharged from the military will now be welcomed back warmly, right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

In the six-year old case brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, the decision, while groundbreaking, still leaves an estimated 66,500 LGBT servicemembers in the same hazardous limbo they currently live their daily lives.

Just as we recently saw in the aftermath of the Prop 8 trial decision, the parties involved will be able to submit appeals and the judge likely will stay her decision until it is reviewed by the next-level court.

This is an historic decision, affirming everything we have been saying. The judge made clear that using the concept of “unit cohesion” as a reason to discharge servicemembers was illogical, especially since the military had been selectively enforcing and delaying enforcement of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law as it suited their personnel needs.

Via Keen News Service:

[The judge] also cited data submitted by Log Cabin Republicans’ attorneys showing the Defense Department often suspended investigations of servicemembers it believed to be gay until after the servicemembers had completed their tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. DOD, she noted “deployed servicemembers under investigation… to combat missions or, if they were already so deployed, delayed the completion of the investigation until the end of the deployment.”

“This evidence, in particular, directly undermines any contention that [DADT] furthers the Government’s purpose of military readiness, as it shows [DOD officials] continue to deploy gay and lesbian members of the military into combat, waiting until they have returned before resolving the charges arising out of the suspected homosexual conduct.”

“Taken as a whole,” wrote Phillips, “the evidence introduced at trial shows that the effect of the Act has been, not to advance the Government’s interests of military readiness and unit cohesion, much less to do so significantly, but to harm that interest.“

The clear and timely path to serving our LGBT servicemembers and our nation’s security interests, is legislative. And the repeal of DADT is in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who must bring the bill already passed by the House to the Senate floor for a vote.

In, “DADT in Reid’s Hands,” Kerry Eleveld at The Advocate writes,

“I’m a little anxious,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “The reality is the number of legislative days in this Congress are rapidly dwindling, and we need to see that the defense authorization bill up on the Senate floor in September.”

When Congress returns to Washington next week, the Senate will have until October 8 when they leave for the midterms to take the crucial vote on the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains the provision to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Even if the bill passes, in its current form, it does not guarantee “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be repealed. It essentially leaves that decision to the military commanders, despite the fact that the president has called for full repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and despite the fact that almost 80% of America wants DADT repealed.

It is crucial that we let our Senators know that we expect them to push for a vote on repealing DADT, that we expect they will pass the bill, and we expect the bill to — in no uncertain terms — definitively states that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is immoral, not in the interest of our military, and will be repealed in full.

HRC is making it easy for you to contact your Senator. Visit Repeal DADT Now.

So is The Courage Campaign. Visit “Senator Harry Reid: Keep your promise to Lt. Dan Choi to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Bottom line, just as a federal judge found Prop 8 unconstitutional, another federal judge found parts of DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act,) and now a federal judge has found “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” unconstitutional, we are seeing a strong pushback from the radical right. Federal judges, believing strongly in their decisions, are being prudent and sending their decisions “upstairs,” to the next-higher court, to ensure their decisions, ultimately, are enforced as written.

For more, read:
Chris Geidner’s excellent analysis: “Trial Court in Log Cabin Case Finds DADT Unconstitutional”
Igor Volsky’s excellent overview: “Federal Judge Finds Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ‘Infringes On The Fundamental Rights In Many Ways’”
SLDN’s Warning: “Attention Service Members: DADT is Still in Effect“

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‘Unconstitutional Conspiracy’: Judge Blasts Trump Administration Officials

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January 15, 2026

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A Reagan-appointed federal judge declared that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had “conspired” to chill First Amendment rights in a case involving pro-Palestinian student protesters.

Senior Judge William Young of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, on Thursday said that Rubio and Noem had “failed in their duty to uphold the constitution,” as Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported.

Judge Young’s remarks were reported in real time by journalists covering the proceedings and shared on social media as the hearing unfolded.

“What happened here is an unconstitutional conspiracy to pick off certain people, to twist the laws,” Judge Young said, denouncing the lack of any actual policy. “Two cabinet secretaries conspired … they intentionally, knowing what they were doing, counseled by professionals who cautioned them, nevertheless went ahead to pick off these people with the intention that your clients would be chilled. And did so rather effectively, by the way.”

Judge Young, 85, also invoked President Donald Trump.

“The big problem in this case,” Young said, “is that the cabinet secretaries and ostensibly the president of the United States are not honoring the First Amendment.”

Young, who has served on the bench for over four decades, continued, saying, “let’s talk the truth here,” as he denounced decisions made at DHS that directed professionals to be “taken off anti-terrorist investigations.”

“They were taken off human trafficking investigations all to look up … what dirt they could find on this group … the very highest levels of the DHS decided – that’s the best use of those people.”

He called it “chapter and verse about how the government can be weaponized against a disfavored group.”

According to All Rise News editor-in-chief Adam Klasfeld, Judge Young also slammed President Trump.

“It’s fairly clear that this President believes, as an authoritarian, when he speaks, everyone, everyone, in Article II, is going to toe the line absolutely.”

According to Reuters, Judge Young indicated that he would issue an order presuming immigration actions against the plaintiffs’ members were retaliatory unless the government could prove otherwise in court.

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Take Vitamins’: Johnson and White House Scramble to Keep GOP Members Showing Up

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16 hours ago

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January 15, 2026

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With a razor-thin margin, Speaker Mike Johnson is urging House Republicans to show up for work — in D.C., not their district offices — and warning their absences could hamper President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“It’s dicey some days,” Johnson told reporters. “I told everybody … ‘no risk-taking, take vitamins and stay healthy and be here,’” The Washington Post reported.

The White House is also keeping an eye on members’ attendance, and has instructed Republicans to forego appearing with President Trump if there is a House vote scheduled.

“The president does not like it when he hears about members missing votes,” one person close to Trump told the Post.

READ MORE: Trump on 2026 Midterms: ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

At risk are bills that cannot be brought to the floor because, as happened this week, Democrats in Washington outnumbered Republicans.

One near-casualty was legislation close to the president’s long-term agenda, which had to be postponed for lack of Republicans. The bill was The Shower Act, which is officially named the “Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing Act.”

President Trump for years has complained about water pressure regulations, and demanded removal of requirements that lower the amount of water coming out of faucets and showerheads.

Republicans have been down several voting members this month, as the Post reported.

“One Republican missed House votes because of a car crash that left him badly bruised. Another is recovering from brain surgery, while yet another was away from Washington while caring for his wife, who is dealing with a bout of cancer,” the Post noted.

There is also the sudden resignation of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and the sudden death of U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA).

“And then there’s Rep. Wesley Hunt. The two-term Texan lawmaker, who is in a heated GOP primary for Senate, has spent so much time on the campaign trail back home that his missed votes have become a salient issue in the race,” the Post noted.

Hunt’s absence, and that of four other GOP lawmakers, forced Speaker Johnson to pull the Shower Act from a floor vote last week.

This week, it passed.

READ MORE: House Majority Flip Could Trigger Sweeping Probes Into Trump Inner Circle: Democrat

 

Image via Reuters

 

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House Majority Flip Could Trigger Sweeping Probes Into Trump Inner Circle: Democrat

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18 hours ago

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January 15, 2026

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If Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, multiple investigations into senior Trump administration officials would begin, a Democratic lawmaker said.

“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” said U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), responding to video of his remarks earlier Thursday.

Congressman Ryan had been speaking with Pablo Manríquez, the editor of Migrant Insider on Substack, who said to the New York Democrat that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point.”

“Can you think of any legal liability he could face on the back end of this presidency?” Manríquez asked.

READ MORE: Trump on 2026 Midterms: ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

“Well,” Ryan responded, “there’s gonna be legal, and I think criminal liability for multiple members of this administration, certainly including Stephen Miller.”

“They continue to just violate the law, violate the Constitution, violate our moral standing and values as Americans,” he alleged.

Ryan said that Democrats across multiple House committees “are already readying investigations … to be ready on day one, when we retake the majority, when the voice of the people are brought back here to the House.”

Democrats currently appear likely to get that chance.

According to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report on Thursday, “House ratings show Dems as modest favorites for control, as Republicans would need to win two thirds of Toss Ups (67%) to keep the majority.”

Wasserman also noted that eighteen House races had moved in the Democrats’ direction.

READ MORE: ‘Chaos and Crisis’: Trump Sparks Alarm After Ramping Up Insurrection Act Threat

 

 

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