Sen. Scott Brown Backs New DADT Bill

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) says that he will vote for the Senate's stand-alone DADT repeal bill, bringing the number of probable pro-repeal votes in the Senate to 61. For now, anyway.

“Sen. Brown accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy after proper preparations have been completed. If and when a clean repeal bill comes up for a vote, he will support it,” said Brown spokesperson Gail Gitcho. Brown’s backing means that – on paper – supporters of the repeal have 61 senators in favor of the bill. On Wednesday Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Lisa Murkowski both announced their support for the stand-alone repeal. The House passed the clean repeal on Wednesday and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has vowed to bring it to a vote in the Senate before the end of the year.

Everything now hinges on the dwindling time in the lame duck session.