WH "Expects" Senate to Repeal DADT

A White House spokesman told The Advocate Wednesday evening that administration officials "expect the Senate to act" on repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" when they return from the midterm recess for the final days of the 111th Congress.

The statement, which placed the responsibility for repeal squarely on Senate leadership, was a follow-up to a question asked earlier this week about whether the White House was making any "contingency plans" in the event that Congress fails to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, to which the repeal measure is attached.

"We are not commenting on contingencies if the Senate does not act because we expect the Senate to act -- it is the right and fair thing to do and it is in the national security interest of the country for it to get done," Shin Inouye said in an e-mail.

The full statement follows:

"The President has repeatedly said he wants a lasting and durable solution to DADT, and he continues to believe that the Senate should follow the bipartisan action in the House to repeal the statute. The White House continues to work with the Congressional leadership on a host of issues that need to be addressed when they come back into session, including passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. We are not commenting on contingencies if the Senate does not act because we expect the Senate to act -- it is the right and fair thing to do and it is in the national security interest of the country for it to get done."