DADT vote

Big news out of Washington.

The Associated Press reports House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says the House will vote on a stand-alone bill that would repeal the policy of forbidding gays from serving openly in the military. Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania is introducing the bill today. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said he will bring the bill to the House floor soon.

The House has already passed a defense authorization bill that included a repeal of the policy, but that bill stalled in the Senate.

Hoyer said Murphy’s bill would mirror an effort in the Senate to pass a stand-alone measure. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has been among the leaders of the opposition, arguing that such a significant personnel policy change shouldn’t happen when the country is fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.