Moments ago, citing a shortage of votes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unexpectedly pulled the omnibus bill off the floor and instead filed cloture on the stand-alone Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal passed by the House yesterday and the DREAM Act. Reid announced that he will hold a cloture vote on both measures on Saturday:

REID: I’m going to file cloture tonight on the DREAM Act, we’re going to have a vote on that Saturday morning fairly early. We’re going to have a cloture vote tonight on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell– oh, not a cloture vote, I’m going to file cloture on it tonight. Those will be sequenced for Saturday, whenever we get to them. Following that, I was told by a number of Republican Senators that they need 6 or 7 days to offer amendment on the START treaty.

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Reid appears to be following the advise of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who earlier today suggested that the Senate vote on DADT before moving back START. “I believe instead of going back to the START treaty, we should go to the independent stand-alone repeal of don’t ask don’t tell Saturday night,” Lieberman said. “We can get it done by Monday, maybe Tuesday at the latest, and then go back to the START treaty.”

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent argued that this is the best case scenario for repealing the policy since “[i]f Reid waits until New START is done before holding the vote on DADT, Senators could start going home once the treaty is resolved, dooming DADT repeal.” “By contrast, if the DADT repeal vote is done first, no Senator will leave Washington before START is resolved. So doing DADT repeal first doesn’t imperil START.”

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During this afternoon’s White House press briefing, the Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld pressed Robert Gibbs on why the President has not been more bullish in pressing the Senate to pass repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell during the lame duck session. Arguing that Obama has used his bully pulpit to press Congress to act on START and has even appeared with Gen. Colin Powell to build support for the measure, Eleveld asked why the President has not adopted a similar tact to advocating for DADT repeal.

Gibbs refused to ask the question, instead reiterating the fact that Obama’s leadership has helped move the issue “to this point”:

ELEVELD: It’s looking like the votes can be there, but Senator Reid is sort of giving mixed signals about whether or not there will be time to do this and sort of how committed he seems to be to making it happen before the end of the year. You’ve said a number of times that this is important to the President. Why not put the President in front of the camera, why not let him use his bully pulpit to lobby for this getting done before Congress goes home? Because for instance with START, he was in front of the cameras with General Powell. [...]

GIBBS: Let’s be clear, we would not be at this point if it wasn’t for the President’s leadership in bringing this issue to the floor. You mentioned, I believe we have the votes….There is time to do this if there are those on the other side of the aisle that wish to get this done and it’s clear that whether it’s Senator Brown or Senator Murkowski or Senator Snowe or others, there is an effort to get this done if we have time to.

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Indeed, the strongest direct advocate for holding a vote before the lame duck session appears to be Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who today, urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to hold a vote on DADT repeal before START. “I believe instead of going back to the START treaty, we should go to the independent stand-alone repeal of don’t ask don’t tell Saturday night,” Lieberman said. “We can get it done by Monday, maybe Tuesday at the latest, and then go back to the START treaty.”

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent argues that this is the best case scenario for repealing the policy since “[i]f Reid waits until New START is done before holding the vote on DADT, Senators could start going home once the treaty is resolved, dooming DADT repeal.” “By contrast, if the DADT repeal vote is done first, no Senator will leave Washington before START is resolved. So doing DADT repeal first doesn’t imperil START.”

But Reid and the White House seem more interested in passing START and at this point it doesn’t sound like Reid is on board with the Lieberman time frame. Here is how the Senate Majority Leader described the time frame in a press release issued yesterday: “We are very quickly running out of days in this Congress. The time for week-long negotiations on amendments and requests for days of debate is over. Republican Senators who favor repealing this discriminatory policy need to join with us now to stand against those who are trying to run out the clock on this Congress”

Meghan McCain predicted that her father Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who was once open to repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — would filibuster the measure if it ever comes before the Senate. Appearing on MSNBC’s ‘The Last Word’ with Lawrence O’Donnell, McCain said that while the Senator would definitely oppose the measure, the ban will eventually be overturned:

O’DONNELL: What do you think he will do with this bill coming to the Senate in its current form? Would he be part of a group that would try to prevent it from coming to a vote?

MCCAIN: Yeah, I do. I think my father will filibuster probably. And I think that this will probably pass, and I think gay marriage will pass in this country.

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Sen. John McCain hasn’t yet announced how he would proceed once Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) brings the measure to the floor of the Senate, but during an appearance on Michael Medved’s radio show yesterday he again criticized Democrats for supposedly rushing repeal and cited the opinions of military leaders who agree with his position.

Supporter appear to have 60 votes to move the measure, however. Earlier today, a spokesperson for Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) announced that the he “accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy after proper preparations have been completed” and “will support” “a clean repeal bill comes up for a vote.” Yesterday, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) also pledged their support.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos — who has opposed repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — said that if Congress lifts the ban against open service and allows gays to serve without hiding their sexual orientation, the Marines could be so distracted that they would die in the line of duty. “I don’t want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda (hospital) with no legs,” he said, adding “mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines’ lives. That’s the currency of this fight.”

The following day, as the House of Representatives took up the measure to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Republicans clung on to Amos’ remarks as a reason to preserve the policy. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the lead opponent of repeal in the Senate, even referenced his remarks in a radio interview:

- REP. DUNCAN HUNTER JR. (R-CA): Let me just start out by quoting Gen. Amos a couple of days ago, who is the Commandant of the Marine Corps on this issue…

- REP. BUCK McKEON (R-CA): Just yesterday, Gen. Amos made clear just how strongly he feels about the threat that he feels repeal poses to Marines in combat…

- REP. PHIL GINGREY (R-GA): The Marine Corps Commandant state that repealing the 17-year-old ban could endanger troops and cost lives.

- SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): The Commandant of the Marine Corps is unalterably opposed to repeal. He again made a statement yesterday that it could cost the lives of Marines.

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Amanda Terkel reported that McKeon went even a step further during a press availability yesterday afternoon, saying that he applauded Amos “because he has the concerns of every Marine on his mind, and he represents…240,000 Marines.” “I applaud him for his courage to speak up, and if I were a Marine out there in the front, I would sure feel good about my commander, however I felt on the issue, because he’s looking out for them, and I think that’s his constitutional responsibility, but it’s a hard thing to do,” he said.

On Wednesday, Staff Sgt. Eric Alva — a gay Marine who lost his leg in Iraq and became the first Marine to be seriously injured in the war — took issue with Amos’ remarks, saying “He pretty much spit on me, my Purple Heart, and my 13 years of service.” “I wish Obama would invite [Amos] to the White House and fire his ass on the spot,” Alva told Andrew Harmon of The Advocate.