Senate to vote on 'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal this weekend

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" law this weekend.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday evening called for the end of debate, or cloture, on a standalone bill to repeal the ban on openly gay people serving in the military.

Invoking cloture means that the Senate would take a procedural vote on the repeal legislation on Saturday and a final vote on the bill by Sunday.

Supporters of repeal have at least 60 votes necessary to pass that bill. Several Republicans publicly support it — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), the co-sponsor of the bill, Olympia Snowe (Maine), Scott Brown (Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).

The House already passed the standalone bill on Wednesday. If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to President Obama for his signature, scrapping the 1993 Clinton-era ban.