Reporting from Washington — The Justice Department asked a federal judge Thursday to set aside her decision stopping the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays and lesbians in the military until it can appeal the ruling, saying the decision would "irreparably harm our military and the national security of the United States."
Government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Riverside that if she did not lift her order by Monday, they would ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt it. If the appeals court in San Francisco fails to act, the government probably will ask the Supreme Court to intervene to prevent an abrupt change to the military, which says it is not yet prepared to handle the transition.
The confrontation comes at a politically awkward moment for President Obama. He opposes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but now — just weeks before the midterm election — risks alienating his liberal base by seeking to halt the judge's order.
On Thursday at a town hall meeting in Washington, Obama pledged he would end the highly controversial 17-year-old policy for removing homosexuals from the armed forces.
"Anybody should be able to serve, and they should not have to lie about who they are in order to serve. This policy will end. It will end on my watch," Obama said.
But the president acknowledged that he is hamstrung by the fact that the policy is written into law and said "this is not a situation where I can, by the stroke of a pen, end this policy."
In the meantime, the Pentagon said that it would suspend enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" while Phillips' injunction remains in place.
"The department will abide by the terms in the court's ruling, effective as of the time and date of the ruling," Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday.
Under the law, enacted in 1993 under President Clinton, commanders cannot ask about a service member's sexual orientation, but if a soldier volunteers the information, then he can be removed. About 13,000 have been removed so far.
Despite the ruling issued Tuesday that the law is an unconstitutional violation of due process and 1st Amendment rights, the president signaled that he preferred Congress to repeal the law. The House voted for repeal this year, as did the Senate Armed Services Committee. But the repeal was blocked by Republicans on the Senate floor. Now, some in the Senate hope the matter can be reexamined during the lame-duck session this fall.
