WH Reaches Deal on Delayed DADT Repeal

WASHINGTON –- The White House announced a compromise deal with congressional leaders on Monday night to pass a limited repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law in coming days, but leaving the final implementation details to the Pentagon.

The proposal -– an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that is scheduled to be approved this week by the full House and the Senate Armed Services Committee -– would include a delayed implementation provision that would not allow a repeal to go into effect until the Pentagon's review of the 17-year-old law is completed later this year.

According to gay rights groups involved in the negotiations on Monday, the president, defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs would also have to certify that the military can make the change without disrupting military operations or morale.

In a letter to Congress, White House Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag wrote that while the president would have preferred any legislative action wait until after the study is complete, “the administration is of the view that the proposed amendment meets the concerns raised by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman.”

Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for Joint Chiefs chair Adm. Mike Mullen, said that the chairman supports the agreement brokered Monday.

The arrangement still would leave the ban on gay troops serving openly in place for several more months, and allow military officials to dismiss any troops who publicly admit their homosexuality. Gay rights groups, however, praised the compromise as a critical step forward in their 17-year effort to overturn the law.

“We have been making the case to White House staff for more than a year now that delayed implementation is realistic, politically viable, and the only way to get the defense community on board with repeal,” Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, said in a statement late Monday. “We are glad to see the community and now the administration and defense leadership finally rally around this option.”

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called the amendment a “dramatic breakthrough in dismantling ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

Aaron Belkin, director of the gay rights advocacy and research Palm Center, praised Barack Obama’s guidance throughout the negotiations. That’s a stark change from the last few months, when gay rights groups have publicly sniped at the White House for a lack of action on a promised repeal.

“Leadership is what the president showed today,” he said.

Both the House and Senate still have to vote on the proposed repeal amendment.

The House is expected to debate its version of the defense authorization bill –- which passed out of the House Armed Services Committee without any reference to the ban on gays –- later this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to complete its version of the budget bill by Thursday, and Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has pushed for its inclusion there.

Nearly 14,000 troops have been discharged from the service under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law since its adoption in 1993.

-- Stars and Stripes reporter Kevin Baron contributed to this report.