A Wednesday vote on DADT? – It may be possible…

Senate majority leader Harry Reid may bring to a vote on Wednesday the National Defense Authorization Act with “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal attached, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

Democrats might make use of a narrow window of down time if the four bills scheduled for a vote Wednesday fail to

Can Senatory Harry Reid get it done in time?

garner the 60 votes necessary to proceed to debate. Those bills include a firefighters collective bargaining bill, the DREAM Act, a 9/11 firefighters health compensation measure, and a measure extending a one-time $250 payment to senior citizens. If all fail, the NDAA could be brought to a vote by sometime Wednesday afternoon.

The strategy is still preliminary but a source familiar with the negotiations said the White House had begun to engage on the issue and President Barack Obama intends to make calls to key GOP targets.

Whether the 60 votes can be found to beat a Republican filibuster is still in question. Every member of the GOP caucus has signed a letter stating they would not consider any other bills until government funding and extending the Bush-era tax cuts had been passed. But hope continues to build.  Yesterday, Senator Mark Pryor (D-AK) announced his support of the repeal of DADT.  He wrote:

“On many previous occasions, I have said that I would oppose repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until I had heard from our servicemen and women regarding this policy. I have now carefully reviewed all of the findings, reports, and testimony from our armed forces on this matter and I accept the Pentagon’s recommendations to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I also accept the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs’ commitment that this policy can be implemented in a manner that does not harm our military’s readiness, recruitment, or retention. We have the strongest military in the world and we will continue to do so by ensuring our troops have the resources necessary to carry out their missions. Therefore, I support the 2011 Defense Authorization Act that passed the Senate Armed Services Committee and will support procedural measures to bring it to a vote this year.”

Momentum seems to be building if Harry Reid can just secure a few Republican votes.  We will see……

UPDATE 5:19pm EST on 12/8:

Harry Reid is in negotiations with the amendment process of the bill with Senator Susan Collins.  While the negotiations are ongoing, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced this afternoon that she supports repeal of ‘DADT’ in a statement that reads in part:

• “After reviewing the DOD report and the testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by Defense Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen, I have concluded that it is time to repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law. We expect all who serve to serve with integrity, but under current law gay and lesbian service members may speak about their sexual orientation only at the risk of being discharged from performing the duties they have trained hard to carry out. America is the loser when it denies those who are willing to make the great sacrifices demanded of our men and women in uniform the opportunity do so on grounds of sexual orientation. I agree with Defense Secretary Gates’ view that the military can successfully implement a repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law provided that proper preparations are implemented.”

Thomas (writing for Click Click Expose Gay Entertainment Media)