John McHugh, What About ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?’

Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) is before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning for his confirmation hearing to become secretary of the Army. He began by saying his “first priority” is to alleviate the pressures on a “force fatigued by some eight years of uninterrupted combat.” Interestingly, he doesn’t include in his opening statement a word about studying or overturning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the law/policy that forces soldiers out of the Army for being openly gay in uniform. That’s supposedly a priority for the Obama administration: McHugh’s views on DADT as a congressman were so unclear that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had to tell reporters that he supports “changing the policy.” But what’s that mean?

We’re 90 minutes into the hearing and he hasn’t said anything yet. (I had to step away for about ten minutes to talk with my editor, so I apologize if I missed something.) I’ll update when I hear him discuss DADT.