Tag Archives: Robert Gates

“I worked for eight presidents, five of them were Republicans. I don’t think any of them would recognize the Republican party today. “In terms of the values and the principles that the Republican Party stood for under those five presidents, those are hard to find these days. “We are an aspirational country and we’ve kind of lost that message, it …

The Hill reports: More than half of Americans polled are not aware that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has uncovered crimes, according to a new survey from Navigator Research. The poll found that 59 percent of those surveyed believe Mueller has not discovered any crimes, while 41 percent believe that he has. …

The Hill reports: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is offering strong backing to President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of State. “I strongly endorse the President-Elect’s selection of Rex Tillerson to be the next Secretary of State,” Gates said in a statement Tuesday morning, according to “Fox & Friends.” “He will bring to the position vast knowledge, experience, and …

Reuters reports: The Boy Scouts of America on Monday ended the group’s outright ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees, rolling back a policy that has deeply divided the membership of the 105-year-old Texas-based organization. The new policy, which takes effect immediately, comes three years after the organization removed its prohibition on gay youth but will still allow local …

Via Yahoo News: The Boy Scouts of America will no longer seek to revoke the charters of chapters that accept gay adult leaders, the organization’s president, Robert Gates, told its national leadership on Thursday. “The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained,” Gates said during the BSA’s annual national meeting. The organization took no formal action on …

Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who championed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, has been named president of Boy Scouts USA. From their website: Gates’ appointment was made upon the recommendation of national volunteer and professional leaders including the BSA national nominating committee. This move means that upon approval of voting members of the National Council, Gates would …

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the certification of the repeal of DADT could be completed this month. Gates leaves his post and will be replaced by CIA Director Leon Panetta in two weeks. The move to end the ban on gay services could be one of Gates’ final acts as defense chief. But Gates stressed that he is not trying …

“It’s hard to believe that he made that statement with a straight face. After all the testimony and Pentagon scrutiny, it’s incredibly disingenuous to suggest that the military won’t be affected by repeal. Some leaders may be on board with the change, but even they recognize that it is change. If this were just business as usual, would the military …

“You’ll have to complete your enlistment just like everybody else. The reality is that you don’t all agree with each other on your politics, you don’t agree with each other on your religion, you don’t agree with each other on a lot of thing. But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. …

Just posted to the Pentagon’s official YouTube channel. (Tipped by JMG reader John)

Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates outlined the three steps necessary for the full implementation of the repeal of DADT, with Admiral Mike Mullen cautioning soldiers, “Now is not, from my perspective, the time to come out.”

Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky ticks off the ways that GOP objections have been dispatched so far today.Read more Volsky’s analysis. Here’s his video recap.

Defense Secretary Gate and Admiral Mike Mullen appear today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. I’ll bump this video player to the top of the blog a few times as the hearings go on today. UPDATE: The hearing has concluded for today.

Today the Senate Armed Services Committee announced that hearings on the repeal of DADT will begin next week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are expected to testify. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: In a notice, the committee announced it would hold hearings on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3. regarding the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, …

The Wonk Room has revealed a letter from Sen. John McCain to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in which he asked that the DADT survey be modified so that soldiers were asked whether the policy should be repealed, rather than how they felt about the repeal itself. McCain: “I urge you and Admiral Mullen to modify the review and the survey …

After weeks of leaks, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the Pentagon will issue its study on the repeal of DADT one day in advance of its scheduled December 1st release. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has ordered the report to be released on Nov. 30, one day earlier than planned, “to support Congress’s wish to consider repeal before they …

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is furious about the leaked DADT survey and has launched an investigation to find its source. In the meantime, today the Pentagon issued a super-annoyed press release. Secretary Gates is very concerned and extremely disappointed that unnamed sources within the Department of Defense have selectively revealed aspects of the draft findings of the Comprehensive Review Working …

Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Congress should hurry up and repeal DADT before the new members arrive in January. But it doesn’t sound like he thinks they will. “I would like to see the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are,” Gates said Saturday, as he traveled to defense …

Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented yesterday’s injunction against enforcing DADT, saying the issue should be up to Congress, not the courts. “I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training,” Mr Gates said. “It has enormous consequences for …