Eight Republicans backed the repeal: Richard Burr, Susan Collins, Scott Brown, Mark Kirk, John Ensign, Olympia Snowe, George Voinovich and Lisa Murkowski.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) had introduced a standalone bill to repeal the policy, enacted in 1993 by President Clinton, on Friday.  The House had overwhelmingly passed the measure (by a vote of 250-175) on Wednesday. 

The Senate failed to pass a military spending bill last week that included the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal.  That vote failed because several pro-repeal Republican senators kept a GOP pledge to reject all other legislation until the Bush tax cuts and federal budget had been addressed by Congress.

This is a big win for the Democratic leadership, which has made ending DADT one of its signature issues.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Saturday:

"This is one of those moments in our history when we stepped up and squared our policies with the values this nation was founded upon." 

Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had said in May: “I don’t have any doubt that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will be a memory by the end of this year.” 

President Obama said: "By ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love."

The campaign to end DADT gained some momentum Nov. 30 when the Pentagon released a long-awaited study of the policy which indicated the military could adjust to openly gay servicemembers with little or no disruption to operations.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen had both endorsed the repeal also.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) continued to serve as the mouthpiece for the anti-gay stance, saying before the vote: "There will be high-fives all over the liberal bastions of America.  I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage.”

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