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Gibbs: Obama to Sign "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal on Wednesday

President Obama will sign the long-sought repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy within days, reports USA Today.

Though the schedule is being finalized, Gibbs said he expects a formal White House signing ceremony Wednesday morning to sign the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal. "I think there are a lot of people who are interested in attending," [White House spokesman] Gibbs said. Gibbs said White House and Pentagon lawyers are working on "implementation and legal issues" associated with lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

As the Senate voted Saturday to end "don't ask, don't tell," Obama praised members for "ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend."

UPDATE: White House Press Office invites R20 to the signing ceremony 915A Wednesday at the Department of Interior. A number of bloggers and activists have been invited.

WATCH: Levin Says Obama "Lacks a Willingness to Fight Hard" on DADT

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) says he is willing to stay in session after Christmas to pass the stand-alone "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" repeal measure and other legislation. Levin says he doesn't see a similar "willingness" from the President to fight.

"The President needs to fight [and] say that he is going to use all of the power he has of a bully pulpit and urge the Senate to stay in, right up to New Years," Levin said on C-SPAN on Sunday. "That’s the problem that I don’t see that kind of a willingness to fight that hard, where he will take that kind of a position and that’s what’s necessary. The Senate and the House, these are tests of wills."

Meanwhile: At today's White House Press Briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs "refused to say that President Obama would call on the Senate to stay in session until it brought up the stand-alone measure to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," reports the Wonk Room. "Asked by The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld ... why Obama has pledged to stay in DC until the Senate passed START but not DADT, Gibbs replied that the President would wait for the Senate to adjourn before leaving. Gibbs also refused to say if the administration was considering alternatives to legislative repeal."

Tick, tock. The clock is running down. Watch both videos AFTER THE JUMP ...

DOJ to Appeal DADT Reinstatement of Lesbian USAF Maj. Magaret Witt

In late September, a federal court ordered the United States Air Force to reinstate retired Maj. Margaret Witt, a highly skilled and decorated flight nurse who was discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Tonight, the Department of Justice has appealed that ruling, reports MetroWeekly.

In a brief filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the U.S. Department of Justice filed the formal documents to announce that it plans to appeal the trial judge's order in Witt v. U.S. Department of the Air Force. On Sept. 24, U.S. District Court Ronald Leighton ruled that the Air Force's discharge of Major Margaret Witt under DADT violated her constitutional rights. He wrote: "[T]he Court concludes that DADT, when applied to Major Margaret Witt, does not further the government’s interest in promoting military readiness, unit morale and cohesion. ... Application of DADT therefore violates Major Witt’s substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. She should be reinstated at the earliest possible moment."

Major Margaret Witt joined the Air Force in 1987, served in the Persian Gulf and received multiple decorations. The Air Force used her photo in recruitment materials for more than a decade. Witt was discharged in 2006 after her commanders discovered she was in a lesbian relationship with a civilian. The action "left her less than a year short of the 20-year service requirement" to obtain a full Air Force pension.

The Justice Department "did not seek a stay" of the lower court ruling, which suggests Maj. Witt could possibly serve during the appeal, reports the AP.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released this statement:

"Today, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal in a case involving a legal challenge to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, as the Department traditionally does when acts of Congress have been held unconstitutional," Gibbs wrote. "This filing in no way diminishes the President’s -- and his Administration’s -- firm commitment to achieving a legislative repeal of DADT this year. Indeed, it clearly shows why Congress must act to end this misguided policy. In recent weeks, the President and other Administration officials have been working with the Senate to move forward with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, including a repeal of DADT, during the lame duck."

WATCH: DefSec Gates and Hillary Clinton Push for DADT Repeal

Defense Secretary Robert Gates now says that Congress should end "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" or the federal courts will force it to happen. Speaking yesterday in Melbourne, Australia, Gates told ABC’s Cynthia McFadden in that he believed the policy's demise was "inevitable."

"The question is whether it is done by legislation that allows us to do it in a thoughtful and careful way, or whether it is struck down by the courts. Because recent court decisions are certainly pointing in that direction. And we went through a period of two weeks in October where we had four different policy changes in the space of, as I say, two weeks, from striking it down totally, to a stay, to appeal, and so on. So I I think we have the least flexibility. We have the least opportunity to do this intelligently and carefully and with the kind of preparation that is necessary, if the courts take this action as opposed to there being legislation...

"My hope frankly is that if they -- if we can make the case that having this struck down by the courts is the worst outcome, because it gives us no flexibility, that people will think I'm called a realist, a pragmatist, I'm looking at this realistically. This thing is gonna go one way or the other. And I wanted and I -- when I testified last February I said, you know, there's smart ways to do things and there's stupid ways to do things. And trying to do this all at once and under some kind of fiat, I think is not the way to do it."

Secretary of State Clinton added: "It's kind of a generational issue, and this issue, like so many issues, you know young people have different life experiences. But there does have to be a thoughtful process, which is what Bob's running right now, a process to really survey this and examine and analyze it, and come to what is the best decision for our military and what they're expected to do out in very dangerous and difficult situations."

In other DADT-related news: White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told National Journal that repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the military is "at least worth a shot" in the lame-duck session of Congress that begins next week. "At least worth a shot"?

Watch the interview WHEN YOU JUMP ...

Obama Drops By "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Meeting with Gay Leaders

President Obama briefly visited a late Tuesday meeting at the White House that was focused on legislative repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" during Congress' lame duck session, reports The Advocate. The meeting was held by House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and brought together representatives of the Center for American Progress, the Human Rights Campaign, Log Cabin Republicans, Servicemembers United, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and the University of California Santa Barbara's Palm Center.

"'The President stopped by to directly convey to the participants his personal commitment on this issue,' said a White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity."

As noted previously by R20, White House LGBT liaison Brian Bond warned participants via email that any discussion of pending DADT litigation was proibited, otherwise the meeting would end. White House officials later explained the precaution was due to the fact that White House counsel and LCR litigants would be in the same room.

Meanwhile: At Tuesday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked if the President has reached out to individual Senators to change "no" votes to "yes." Gibbs reply:

"To my knowledge, it hasn’t taken place yet. But, look, the only way we’re going to get something through the Senate is to change the vote count and to move past—look, you got to get—you’re going to have to get past a promised filibuster and—in moving to the bill. And certainly the only way we can move to that bill is to change some of those votes.

The clock is running down. Watch the video WHEN YOU JUMP ...

READ: White House Statement on Today's Pardoning in Malawi

The office of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has emailed this statement to R20 on today's pardoning in Malawi.

"The White House is pleased to learn of President Bingu wa Mutharika's pardon of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza. These individuals were not criminals and their struggle is not unique. We must all recommit ourselves to ending the persecution and criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity. We hope that President Mutharika's pardon marks the beginning of a new dialogue which reflects the country's history of tolerance and a new day for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Malawi and around the globe."

Hear, hear.

White House, Madonna Condemn Sentence of Gay Malawi Couple

The international community is swiftly responding to the outrageous 14 year sentence imposed upon Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, the gay Malawi couple convicted of  "gross indecency and unnatural acts." Their crime? Holding a public engagement ceremony in December.

Madonna, who has adopted two children from Malawi and is building a school in the southern Africa nation, has finally addressed this human rights fiasco. The statement:

"I am shocked and saddened by the decision made today by the Malawian court, which sentenced two innocent men to prison. As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. Today, Malawi took a giant step backward. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved. I call upon the progressive men and women of Malawi—and around the world—to challenge this decision in the name of human dignity and equal rights for all."

The White House has also strongly denounced the conviction and sentencing. The statement by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:

"The United States strongly condemns the conviction and harsh sentencing of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga in Malawi.  The criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity is unconscionable, and this case mars the human rights record of Malawi.  We urge Malawi and all countries to stop using sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for arrest, detention, or execution."

On Tuesday, the State Department criticized the human rights travesty. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley made an even stronger condemnation today. "The United States is appalled by today's sentencing," Crowley told reporters. "We view the criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as a step backward.

No word yet if the conviction have any bearing on the State Department's $115 million annual foreign aid budget to Malawi.

Louisiana Declares Emergency as Massive Oil Slick Comes Ashore

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency as a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico begins to ooze ashore. The catastrophe threatens to "become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades."

Jindal requests funds to deploy up to 6,000 troops ...

The leaking pipeline from Deepwater Horizon explosion and sinking is spewing more than 210,000 gallons a day: "The leak from a blown-out well a mile underwater is five times bigger than first believed. Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta late Thursday, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines. Thicker oil was about five miles offshore. Officials have said they would do everything to keep the Mississippi River open to traffic."

The environmental impact could "eclipse" the Exxon Valdez ....

"The oil slick could become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez in scope. It imperils hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life. 'It is of grave concern," David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The AP. 'I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling."

Shrimp economy devastated ....

"Shrimpers in Louisiana and Alabama file class-action lawsuits against BP and owners of the drilling platform. .... The [slick] menaced the environmentally sensitive coastline of four states. The blowout comes at a particularly bad time for the shrimp industry, coinciding with the very start of the season as shrimp stocks make their way from estuaries out to sea."

Air quality testing is ordered as a sickening "gag-inducing" smell heralds the spill's arrival: "New Orleans residents are understandably annoyed over their city being enveloped by the smell of fuel. Mandie Landry, an attorney who works in the city's Central Business District, told Yahoo! News that 'it smells like it'd smell if a bus was in front of you blowing out exhaust fumes right in your face.' Another local resident, Tulane University employee Laura Mogg, told us that she caught wind of the 'terrible' and 'gag-inducing' smell from her office building on the school's sprawling uptown campus."

Obama's decision to expand off-shore is questioned: "Senior White House adviser David Axelrod pledged that President Obama's plans to end a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling would be put on hold until the cause of the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig is known. .... Members of Congress have called for Obama to abandon the off-shore drilling plans altogether, and press secretary Robert Gibbs conceded that new information about the cause of the current disaster could affect the president's thinking on the issue."

And another aerial view of the oil slick ....

Report: White House Reneged on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Days After State of the Union

The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld reports what many of us have heard and/or suspected for many many months: The White House does not intend to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2010. Only days after President Obama's State of the Union address, White House staff told this to a number of gay leaders.

Early in the year, multiple sources say some administration officials counseled the president against acting on the military’s gay ban in 2010. Still, Obama included his intention to end the policy in his State of the Union address, saying, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law…”

Yet just days after the January 27 speech, White House officials convened a meeting on February 1 with LGBT advocates in which they said the policy would not be included in the president’s recommendations for this year's Department of Defense authorization bill, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting.

“It was a definitive shut-down from [Jim] Messina,” said a source, who was present at the meeting and agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, referring to the White House deputy chief of staff. “He said it would not be going into the president’s Defense authorization budget proposal.” The news was a blow to activists since the Defense funding bill is the best legislative vehicle for including a measure to overturn the policy. “It almost seemed like the bar on the hurdle got raised two or three times higher,” said the source.

The White House declined to comment on the meeting.

But the Human Rights Campaign’s David Smith, who also attended the meeting, recalls it differently.

“They were noncommittal about legislation in that meeting, but not definitively one way or the other,” said S

Joe Sudbay at AMERICABlog: "Even if David Smith's recollection is more accurate, 'noncommittal'? 'Not one way or the other'? Just five days earlier the President said he was going to have DADT repealed this year. But, by everyone's recollection at this White House meeting, the indications were certainly otherwise. That should have set off alarms. Yet, at the end of February, HRC President Joe Solmonese told his organization's donors at a fundraiser that DADT would be repealed this year. Sounds like his group already had indications to the contrary. The warning signs were there. The White House has played us for fools."

Can't say we didn't see this coming. Saw this back in October ...

Meanwhile: The Denver Post reports the Administration is facing a "revolt" among Democrats on the Hill for its "carefully crafted strategy" of stalling on "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

Democrats in the House and Senate — including two key lawmakers from Colorado — say they are unwilling to wait for completion of a 10-month Pentagon study on repeal of the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" and are instead moving to include immediate repeal in the defense reauthorization bill, scheduled for mark-up next month. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., among the Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee backing the move, said the committee was "within a vote or two" of including repeal in the must- pass legislation. He met with three discharged members of the military Tuesday, using their stories to highlight the need for repeal this year. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat and one of three openly gay members of Congress, holds a key position on the Rules Committee that he is willing to use to insert a similar provision in the House version of the spending bill, he said Tuesday.

Congressional aides said both approaches are likely to face opposition from the White House, which in February laid a timetable built around an extensive Pentagon study that won't be completed until Dec. 1, pushing a final move on the contentious issue past what's expected to be Democrats' toughest election cycle in years.

The Advocate also reports a number of Democrats want to make an end-run around the White House.

And on Wednesday; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President is "committed" to waiting for the Pentagon to conclude its "study" on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" before seeking a vote. The study will be concluded in December so any vote would effectively be delayed until in 2011 ... after the mid-term elections. 

Watch the video and read the transcript AFTER THE JUMP ...

To prove the President's "commitment", Gibbs reminds reporters of campaign trail promises: "Obviously the President made a commitment in the presidential campaign, and understands the passion that people hold the belief that all should be able to serve. The President holds that belief too. But I would remind folks that wasn’t a belief that the President held in 2007 -- that’s a belief that the President held in running for the Senate as far back as 2003. The President has made and is committed to making this changed law."

Of course.

Read the transcript AFTER THE JUMP ...

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Pentagon Holds Meeting with Troops, White House Responds to DOJ Brief

On Tuesday in the Pentagon auditorium, about 350 rank-and-file troops were picked at random to discuss possible changes if gays are allowed to serve openly, the AP reports.

 "Officials say they will spend the next several months reaching out to troops and their families in focus groups and meetings like the Tuesday forum to determine what concerns they'll have to address. Attendees of the Tuesday session said that one female Marine stated that bunking with a lesbian would be the same as being told to share a room with a man. A soldier said he didn't want to wade into the political debate and that he would follow orders. Another service member asked if a gay service member who gets married—now forbidden under law—would receive military family benefits. At one point, a moderator asked how many troops believed they have served with a gay person. About half the people in the audience raised their hands. Attendees described the meeting on condition of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue."

Not exactly the ideal "forum" to "reach out" to all troops—gay and lesbian troops cannot discuss their experiences because they could be discharged for revealing their sexuality. ...

Meanwhile: The White House is taking some heat for a controversial Justice Department brief that defends "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and employs an outdated, circa 1993 quote from Gen. Colin Powell, who now supports repealing the policy. The brief was authored by Assistant Atty. Gen. Tony West, who also supervised last summer's highly offensive motion defending the Defense of Marriage Act.

At Tuesday's White House press briefing, The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld grilled Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on the DOJ motion. Is the President concerned, Eleveld asked, that DOJ is "insular or tone-deaf on issues that are sort of politically sticky, especially those of interest to the LGBT community"

Gibbs put some distance between the White House and the Justice Department and said using Powell's 17-year-old testimony was "odd." Said the press secretary: "Obviously the President has enunciated his support for ending 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' rolling back—made a commitment to roll back DOMA in the campaign. Obviously, the Justice Department has—is charged with upholding the law as it exists, not as the President would like to see it. We have obviously taken steps on the front of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' and I think we’ve made a genuine amount of progress. I will say, was it odd that they included previous statements from General Colin Powell on a belief set that he no longer had? I don’t think the President would disagree with that."

AMERICABlog has more analysis on the DOJ brief and a follow-up question on whether President Obama believes DADT is constitutional.

Watch the White House briefing, AFTER THE JUMP ...