Armed Services Committee

WASHINGTON — A ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said this week that a newly revised Pentagon policy granting marriage leave for gay service members “legally fails to fix the issue of giving same-sex couples a special benefit.”

The two ranking Republicans on U.S. House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” scheduled for next Tuesday, Sept. 20, claiming that certain regulations regarding military benefits for same sex couples have not been revised.

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week unanimously passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with none of the anti-gay amendments that were attached to the House version of the bill.

The White House on Saturday expressed ”serious objections” to an amendment approved by the House Armed Services Committee on May 11 that would require all four military service chiefs to certify that implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal would not impact combat readiness.

The full U.S. House Armed Services Committee approved three amendments late Wednesday night that seek to delay implementation of repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and to reiterate Congress’s support for the Defense of Marriage Act.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) will introduce an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill this week that would require all four military service chiefs to certify that implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal would not impact combat readiness.

In the second round of scheduled hearings on the Pentagon’s Work Group report on repeal of “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell,” the heads of the five military branches and the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, giving Senators their input as to the possible repeal of the policy […]

The Pentagon’s top four leaders stood their ground Thursday during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s report concerning Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. But there was considerable push back from Republicans on the committee — and not just John McCain. A lot of important ground was covered –- both technically, concerning […]

Appearing on the Sunday talk shows yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), continued to fight against repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military ban on openly gay service members.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has announced two days of hearings set to begin next week covering the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” report commissioned by Defense Secretary Robert Gates last spring.