White House Thwarts Bill to End DADT Funds?

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Obama has said repeatedly he thinks Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is bad policy that “hurts our national security,” but he wants Congress to take the lead in rescinding the law. We can all see the logic here: It would continue a terrible Bush-era precedent (not to mention reek of hypocrisy) if Obama were to issue an executive order eliminating an act of Congress.

We all understand that logic. But I’m having trouble understanding this: Florida House Democrat Alcee Hastings introduced an amendment this week to a military appropriations bill that would cut off funds for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell investigations. The next day, he says, colleagues in Congress and in the White House urged him to withdraw the amendment, which he did.

Why would the White House get in Congress’ way? The Senate has already committed to hearings on DADT; the House’s bill to eliminate the policy has 165 cosponsors. It’s not as if quashing Hastings’ amendment will slow the momentum. Or will it? Because what kind of message does this send to House members unsure about whether or not to support DADT’s end?

Last night, Hastings tried to make sense of it with Rachel Maddow.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

H/t: ThinkProgress.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate