Top House Dem predicts repeal of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’

He also predicted bipartisan support for the repeal in both the House and the Senate.

{mosads}The
House Rules Committee will decide Wednesday whether to allow an
amendment sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) that would scrap the
ban on gays in the military but delay the repeal implementation until the Pentagon
finishes studying its implications on the armed forces. 

It is highly
likely the Rules Committee will send the amendment for a floor
vote. That vote could come up as early as Thursday or on
Friday under a separate rule, congressional sources said.

“Patrick Murphy is pretty courageous, with respect to this,” Larson
said in an interview Wednesday.  “I would suspect that there is wide
bipartisan support for this in both chambers.”

It is yet unclear
whether either the House or the Senate have enough votes to pass the
repeal of the Clinton-era law, but gay-rights activists and
congressional supporters of repeal have ramped up their efforts to gain
enough votes for passage.

In an interview with The Hill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she wanted to end the ban by the new year.