Brody's Notes... Senator Lieberman: "DADT First Then START Treaty"

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)  Official Senate Portrait 

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) DEC 16 | In an interview on MSNBC earlier today, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said that in his opinion, repealing Don't Ask-Don't Tell should take precedence over Senate ratification of the START treaty.

"Instead of going back to the START treaty, we should go to the independent standalone repeal of DADT Saturday night, we can get it done by Monday, Tuesday morning at the latest, and then we can go back to the START treaty if they want," Lieberman said. "But repealing DADT has to be done this year, because I'm worried we are not going to have the votes to do it next year."

Over the past few days, momentum has been building behind the Lieberman led effort to end the military's ban on openly Gay servicembers, with the Senator calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to keep the agenda rolling forward.

"It's really up to Sen. Reid now," Lieberman told MSNBC today.Regardless of what happens afterward, Lieberman said, repeal should come before anything else once the Senate debate on the budget bill -- a prerequisite for some of the Republican pro-repeal votes -- is over."

The Senate Majority Leader had promised to bring Lieberman's bill to the floor at some point after the House passed its version yesterday in its 250-175 vote, but his office has been secretive regarding where on the Senate Calender priority list the measure falls. As the lame duck sessions ends, and with the Senate still needing to holding votes on START, the DREAM Act immigration bill, and DADT -- all following the government appropriations budget bill -- observers state that it's likely one bill will get excluded before the Senate adjourns.

Senator Lieberman said that he's confident that he has lined up enough votes to pass the repeal in the Senate, which would immediately put it [the repeal legislation] on President Obama's desk for his signature. What's lacking, said Lieberman, is enough time yet still he feels that it can and must be accomplished in the time remaining in the current session.

"I know we got 61, I believe we're gonna surprise and at least 62, maybe 63 votes," he said. "It's time for this to end and for us to get the best possible people we can to serve in our military. We can't let the clock be used as an excuse."

UPDATE: The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unexpectedly pulled the omnibus bill from the Senate floor on Thursday evening, and instead filed cloture on the stand-alone “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, clearing the way for a Senate vote this weekend.

Reid announced that he will hold a cloture vote on both the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” measure, and the DREAM Act on Saturday.

UPDATED FRIDAY DECEMBER 17TH @ 3PM. Senator Joe Lieberman- We're On the Verge Of A Historic Breakthrough: