Senate Fails to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- A last-ditch effort to scrap the military's controversial ban on gays and lesbians serving openly failed Thursday after several moderate Republicans whose votes were considered crucial voted against repealing "don't ask, don't tell."  The bill needed 60 votes to advance, but it received only 57.

It came as a surprise move when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Thursday abruptly called a procedural vote on the annual Defense Authorization bill that included a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

For the past few days Reid had been locked in negotiations with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican who supports the repeal but said she might vote against the bill on procedural grounds.

After a floor speech Thursday in which she said she was "perplexed and frustrated" by Reid's decision to call a vote Thursday afternoon, it had been expected that she would vote against the repeal, but she ultimately backed the effort.

"I am extremely disappointed that the Senate majority leader walked away from negotiations in which we were engaged and which were going well," Collins said at a press conference after the vote. "There was a clear path forward to completion."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucuses with Democrats, said after the vote that he and Collins will now introduce free-standing legislation -- separate from the defense bill -- to repeal the policy.

He said he and Collins were "disappointed that the vote occurred this afternoon" and had not been delayed by Reid until a later date.

The debate and vote on gays in the military was competing for time on a packed Senate schedule for the remainder of the lame-duck session that includes addressing the Bush tax cuts, government funding, and the START treaty with Russia.

Thursday's vote marked the second time this year that lawmakers in the upper chamber have acted on the controversial issue. It could be years before it ever comes up again in Congress, since Republicans will gain control of the House of Representatives next month.

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