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SLDN: DADT “Focus Right Now Is in the Senate”

By on November 4, 2010

Although — as Metro Weekly reported earlier — some analysts and strategists are discussing the impact of the loss of Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) in the House on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network spokesman Trevor Thomas told Metro Weekly in an email, “SLDN’s focus right now is in the Senate during the lame duck session.”

Providing some of the first post-election details into the lame-duck process, Thomas wrote, “The Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin [(D-Mich.)], is actively pushing to get the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) taken up.

“In fact, Chairman Levin is working on that right now with the Senate Majority Leader [Harry Reid (D-Nev.)] and reaching out to key Republican senators for a bi-partisan approach in the lame duck,” he wrote. “We have seen a significant amount of data that speaks to voter dissatisfaction with incumbents regarding the economy and government spending.”

As for the House, Thomas wrote, “I have no doubt House champions such as Congresswomen Susan Davis (D-Ca.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) will continue to be strong repeal advocates, and they, too, are pushing hard to get this done in the lame duck session.”

Igor Volsky at the Wonk Room, meanwhile, detailed that today President Barack Obama made no mention of the NDAA or DADT in a brief discussion with reporters about lame-duck priorities after today’s Cabinet meeting.

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