Pentagon: Obama Has Not Ordered Military to Work on Repealing 'Don’t Ask Don't Tell'

Posted by Ryan Powers, Think Progress at 8:23 AM on May 20, 2009.

Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell said today that it has had only “initial discussions” with the White House about repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and President Obama has “not asked for the 1993 policy to be scrapped.” “I do not believe there are any plans under way in this building for some expected, but not articulated, anticipation that don’t ask-don’t tell will be repealed,” Morrell said. He added that the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates are “aware of where the president wants to go on this issue, but I don’t think that there is any sense of any immediate developments in the offing on efforts to repeal don’t ask-don’t tell.” Today’s remarks appear contrary to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’s claim last week that Obama is currently “working with…members of the Joint Chiefs” to repeal the policy. The Boston Globe reported today that 619 individuals were discharged last year under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.

Tagged as: pentagon, obama, military, don't ask don't tell, dadt

Ryan Powers is a former intern of the Center for American Progress and a senior at the College of William and Mary.