Happy Monday! (Unless you’re Canadian.) We should know what most of the military’s top leadership thinks of the
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy by the end of the week as the service
chiefs are scheduled to appear before the House and Senate armed
services committees and are expected to face questions about possibly
repealing the ban.
Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last month expressed personal support for ending the policy. Gates also appointed Army Gen. Carter Ham and Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson to lead a team that will review current policy by the end of March and then turn its attention to polling service members and their families about a possible repeal.
Lawmakers will conduct their own polling of top brass during hearings that begin tomorrow. Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Gen. George W. Casey Jr. are slated to appear before the Senate panel while Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz are scheduled to meet with House lawmakers. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Adm. Gary Roughead and Marine Commandant Gen. James T. Conway will testify before the House panel on Wednesday and senators on Thursday. McHugh and Casey visit the House side of Capitol Hill on Thursday. (The Federal Eye plans to track this week’s testimony.)
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