WH: No Supreme Court pick this week

(Washington) The White House says President Barack Obama won’t announce a Supreme Court nominee this week.

That pushes the timeline for Obama to announce his choice to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens into May.

Obama said last week that he would make a nomination in the next couple of weeks.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at his regular briefing Monday that it won’t be this week.

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Gates Plan May Be Beginning of the End of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Pentagon Studies Ways to Relax Enforcement as First Step; Impact on Troops Would be Minimal

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In the wake of yesterday’s unexpected Pentagon announcement about gays in the military, experts say the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy may be on the brink of irreversible change that would speed up its demise. After speaking with President Obama last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked military lawyers to explore how to modify enforcement of the policy in ways that are “more flexible until the law is changed.” The President Monday reiterated his intention to end discrimination against gay troops, saying he is working with Congress and the military to do so.

Christopher Neff, political director of the Palm Center, said the remarks by Secretary Gates marked the first time the Defense Secretary has made clear that the Pentagon is onboard with the President’s determination to lift the ban. “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is a package — both a law and a policy — that hasn’t been penetrated for fifteen years,” Neff said. “This is a crack in humpty dumpty, and it gets the ball rolling for a political solution since it gives cover to lawmakers who have been waiting for a nod from the Pentagon.”

Neff said that even a small change in how “don’t ask, don’t tell” is enforced could represent a seismic political shift, even if it does not have a substantial operational impact on most gay troops, who would still be subject to discharge. If the military stops applying certain provisions of the policy, as Gates says it is considering, it would send a signal to Congress about the inevitability of change. “That’s why executive action is the key to unlocking the political stalemate,” said Neff. “Even the statements themselves, although they do await follow-up action, have changed the political landscape.”
 
Last month, the Palm Center published a report which outlined several legal and political rationales for executive branch discretion in regulating, and even halting, discharges provided for by federal statute. One of those rationales is closely linked to the new review announced by Secretary Gates. According to the Palm Center study, “the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy itself, as codified by Congress, also grants authority to the Department of Defense to determine the procedures under which investigations, separation proceedings, and other personnel actions under the authority of 10 U.S.C. Section 654 will be carried out … The Secretary of Defense has discretion to determine the specific manner in which ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will be implemented.” Prior to the release of the Palm Center’s report, most observers had assumed that only Congress or the federal courts end the firings of gay troops.
 
Amidst mounting public pressure, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said this week that he thought “don’t ask, don’t tell” would be repealed by the end of the President’s first term. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center, said this week’s developments were politically significant. “Serious discussions have been launched by the President himself,” said Frank. “Obama has said this is a failed policy that harms national security, so these measures are not just fixes, but may be the beginning of the end.” Frank added that any regulatory changes that fall short of halting all discharges will be “window-dressing,” but he focused on the implications for further political change. “This means the hot potato party may finally be over, as the President understands where the buck stops.”
 
In the wake of this week’s developments, the Palm Center announced that it is preparing a more extensive legal analysis of administrative options for relaxing the application of certain provisions of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Neff said that the Defense Department should invite public input as the rules are re-drafted, which would be consistent with past processes when military regulations have been
changed. “This review should be no different,” he said.
 
Organizations and individuals who have endorsed or endorsed consideration of the use of executive action based on the legal theories outlined in the Palm Center’s study include Secretary Gates, 77 members of Congress, the New York Times editorial page, Center for American Progress, Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker, the political consultant Robert Shrum, and former White House aide Richard Socarides.
 
The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.

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White House Defends Anti-Gay Marriage Brief Amid Furor

A week after the Justice Department filed a motion in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, White House Press Secretary reiterated the president’s commitment to changing that law.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon — just hours before the President was set to sign a presidential memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees — Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fielded a question from ABC News’ Jake Tapper about the administration’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act.

See White House Defends Anti-Gay Marriage Brief Amid Furor

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White House: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” under review

(Washington) The White House is insisting that officials are working to overturn a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, pushing back against Pentagon assessments a day earlier that such efforts were low priorities and Democratic activists’ complaint of slow progress.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs …

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Gay advocacy groups press Obama

Gay advocacy groups, disenchanted by President Obama’s inaction so far on campaign promises on their issues, are launching a campaign to get his administration to take a stand on the federal anti-gay marriage law.

The first federal lawsuit against a key section of the Defense Of Marriage Act was filed on last month by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders on behalf of eight same-sex married couples and three surviving spouses from Massachusetts. Obama’s Department of Justice until the week of June 22 to respond.

During his campaign, Obama promised to seek a repeal of the act, which allows states to not recognize gay marriages from other states. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated the president’s position last month. He opposes gay marriage, but does support civil unions and equal treatment for gays. In recent weeks, New Hampshire and Vermont have moved to join Massachusetts in legalizing gay marriage.

In the grassroots effort, organizers are asking participants to print out a “flip flop card” with the statement, “President Obama, please don’t flip flop on DOMA!” and mail it to the White House.

“President Obama, the defense of this discriminatory and archaic law will be tantamount to nothing short of a flip flop from your previously stated intentions. We’re asking you Mr. President, to take a principled stand for equality under the law and be the bold leader that we voted into office,” Paul Sousa, who leads the Boston-based Equal Rep, said in a statement.

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White House Sets Record Straight on Gay Ban

SANTA BARBARA, Calif — The following was released today by the Michael D. Palm Center:

Asked today if the White House would consider halting gay discharges by presidential authority, press secretary Robert Gibbs said it would not stop the firing of gay troops. That said, Gibbs insisted that the President believes that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy “isn’t working for our national interests” and that he “will work with the Joints Chiefs of Staff, the administration and with Congress” to change the policy.

In recent weeks, the President’s national security team has sent mixed messages. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke of what action would occur “if” the policy were repealed, suggesting it may not be; and national security advisor James Jones said this weekend he was not sure if the ban would be lifted.

Scholars said that Gibbs’ comments today indicate new leadership from the White House in reassuring the public that “don’t ask, don’t tell” will be repealed. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center, said that “today’s remarks appear to send a signal to any member of the administration who questions the President’s resolve.”

At the same time, Gibbs’ statement raised questions by gay rights experts about why President Obama, who continues to say he wants the ban terminated, would preside over ongoing discharges when he has authority to end them by executive order. The Palm Center yesterday released a report by a team of scholars and legal experts showing that the president has statutory authority to halt discharges immediately.

Richard Socarides, who worked in the Clinton administration as special assistant to the president on LGBT issues, said that the current president should exercise the short-term options he has to end the ban. “I have long supported and advocated a moratorium on further discharges,” he said today, “and I think it’s well within the president’s discretionary authority to do that immediately.” Socarides said an executive order halting discharges would be consistent with Obama’s stated belief that the policy should end.

The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.

Website: http://www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu
Website: http://www.palmcenter.org

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White House: Legislation key for gays in military

(Washington) The White House says it won’t stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military while the Obama administration works to repeal a decade-old policy banning openly gay people from serving in uniform.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama does not plan to intervene …

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