The number of Republican Senators supporting a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has now reached four: Scott Brown, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Olympia Snowe. This should be enough for passage.
Currently, there are 58 Democrats in the Senate, and 42 Republicans. On December 9th, only two Democrats, Joe Manchin and Blanche Lincoln, did not vote in favor of repeal. As such, with four Republicans in support, even if Senators Manchin and Lincoln are once again either opposed and / or are not available (Lincoln had a dentist appointment for the last DADT repeal vote), there should now be 60 votes in favor of passage (56 Dems plus 4 GOP).
Here are the four Republican statements of support:
- Susan Collins voted in favor of repeal on December 9th.
- Scott Brown:
“Sen. Brown accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy after proper preparations have been completed. If and when a clean repeal bill [that is, a stand alone DADT repeal] comes up for a vote, he will support it,” said Brown spokesperson Gail Gitcho.
- Lisa Murkowski:
"Sen. Murkowski will support a stand-alone repeal of the DADT law," said Murkowski spokesman Michael Brumas. "With the tax package out of the way, and legislation to fund the government on a glide path to passage, Sen. Murkowski will vote to move to DADT when it is brought to the floor.
- Olympia Snowe:
“After careful analysis of the comprehensive report compiled by the Department of Defense and thorough consideration of the testimony provided by the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service chiefs, I support repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law,” Snowe said in a statement. “However, as was stated in the letter I signed along with all of my Republican colleagues to the Majority Leader on Dec. 1, we must first fund the government beyond Dec. 18.”
So, as noted in the Murkowski and Snowe statements, even with 60 votes in favor of the stand-alone DADT repeal, there is one caveat to passing the bill: first passing the
the omnibus government funding bill to fund the government through most of 2011. As such, passage is still not guaranteed, as
Republicans are doing whatever possible to delay the passage of the omnibus spending bill, mainly by forcing the 1,924 page bill to be read aloud.
The votes are likely there for the bill, but with a very crowded Senate calendar, this procedural delay might stop it.
When it comes to government funding, DADT repeal, START and more, it’s a race against the clock right now for Senate Democrats. The votes are likely there for everything, but the question is time.