Action on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Postponed Until 2010?

The incoming Obama administration may wait until 2010 to move on "don't ask, don't tell," if at all. Given the challenges facing the country, from the economic crisis to winding down the war in Iraq, experts on the matter say it's unlikely the new president will act right away to reverse the ban on military service by openly gay soldiers, The Washington Times reports.

"What's the reality for the new administration?" Aubrey Sarvis, head of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, told the Times. "Financial crisis. Economic upheaval. Health care reform. Environmental challenges. Where does 'don't ask, don't tell' fall in all this? I would say it is not in the top five priorities of national issues."

Sarvis, whose group's mission is to end "don't ask, don't tell," told the paper he's had "informal discussions" with the Obama transition team about a timetable for achieving the goal and says 2010 is a reasonable estimate. "I think 2009 is about foundation building and reaching consensus," Sarvis said.

Obama is on record as supporting the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," but it's widely believed he's not going to spend any political capital there immediately, hoping to avoid the situation President Bill Clinton found himself in in early 1993.