Senate Republicans block DADT repeal

The Huffington Post:

Washington - A major defense authorization bill carrying the repeal of the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law was blocked on Thursday by Senate Republicans and one Senate Democrat after negotiations between the parties failed. A number of moderate Republicans who said they supported a repeal, including Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), voted to filibuster the measure. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined their efforts.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the prime negotiating partner of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's, voted to bring the bill forward but only after it was clear that the 60 needed to end a filibuster would not be achieved. Her vote came after she angrily roamed the Senate floor, rolling up text of the legislation and waving it around, smacking it on Sen. Dick Durbin's desk and hitting him on the arm with it. The final tally was 57 Senators in favor of moving forward, 40 opposed.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a lead proponent of repeal, promised after the vote to introduce stand-alone legislation quickly to repeal the ban. "Reid [told Lieberman] he would bring it up by the end of lame duck," a Reid aide said. "That is all that I know right now. And Reid will cosponsor it."

Lieberman said it would be easier to get 60 votes on a stand-alone bill, listing off Brown, Murkowski and Collins as likely backers. He said he is willing to stay in session until January 4 to finish up legislation.

"It ain't over until it's over," Lieberman said. "We're going to keep fighting until the clock runs out, and as I look at it there's still a lot of time to get this done."

Continue reading here.