Senator McCain, inconsistent blowhard from Arizona who is in the midst of a tight re-election may have already attacked the DADT repeal measure in the Senate bill. It's true that he issued his filibuster threat to the measure already but the bill itself may already be tainted.
McCain mandates 6000 National Guard to AZ border
It seems this is what the Obama administration was trying to head off when they sent 1200 guardsmen to the border last week. They were trying to prevent these kinds of measures from being offered, as ultimately the Senate is too gutless to remove these measures and that McCain would be grandstanding to prove that he's tough on "illegal immigration".
This provision made it in the bill by a vote of 15-13 (which means some dems voted for it) calling for 6000 national guardsmen to head to the AZ border. Like the DADT repeal measure, it will be extremely tough to strip out once it hits the senate floor and in conference, no one will want to be seen as being "weak" on immigration, it could very well end up in the final bill.
There's just one small wrinkle. The Constitution mandates, under Article II, that the President is the ONLY one who can order troops around and direct them. McCain's amendment is likely unconstitutional. Expect to hear more of this and more of McCain grandstanding until the bill is passed.
Levin predicted the McCain amendment would be quashed either on the Senate floor or in negotiations with the House over the defense bill.
"I believe that this would be an issue on the floor as to whether or not the Congress has the authority to direct troops to go to specific locations. There's no precedent for that, according to the Library of Congress. We can add, we can recommend, we can fund, we can prohibit, but can you direct the commander in chief to send troops to a specific place? There's no precedent for it," Levin said.
The only question is whether Obama would have to deem the entire Senate Defense bill unconstitutional or simply declare that provision unconstitutional. I think it's the latter, but it very well could be the former.
And to those worried about the Veto threat by Sec. Gates and the JSF being included? The Senate bill did eliminate the JSF second engine. Meaning that the veto threat was a bluff for congress. But to those wondering whether McCain would follow up on his threat against DADT repeal? He may have already started.