(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said on Tuesday that Republicans would filibuster a bill designed to grant legal status to illegal immigrants on the condition that they either attend college or serve in the military.

DeMint said that he and his colleagues are united in their opposition to the bill, known as the DREAM Act, and any other proposals that may be brought to the floor before taxes and government funding are agreed upon. (DREAM Act is the acronym for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.)

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is pushing for cloture to end debate on the legislation, CNSNews.com asked DeMint whether Republicans would filibuster the bill to keep debate going...

The chiefs of the Army, Marines and Air Force warned Friday that implementing a repeal of the policy banning gays from serving openly in the military would be more difficult than a Pentagon study has suggested, challenging the assessments of other top military officials in the administration.

Gen. James Amos, the Marine commandant, offered the most critical comments in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and recommended against a repeal at this time. He said the Marines would carry out a change in policy if Congress votes for it but said the shift has a "strong potential for disruption at the small-unit level."

Citing statistics in a recently released Pentagon study showing a majority of combat Marines were concerned about a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," Amos said he could not turn his back on their opinions...

Senate Republicans today unanimously agreed to use a filibuster to block any controversial legislation until a deal is worked out on extending tax cuts to Americans — a move that could affect abortion.

The Senate is currently under watch by those who are concerned about the Defense Department funding bill, the last version of which has an amendment that would allow abortions at taxpayer funded military base hospitals.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, all 42 Republicans said they would not agree to proceed on any legislation until the Senate has agreed to extend the tax cuts. Their decision means they would prevent Senate Democrats from voting on the Defense bill with or without the provision for abortions...

Every Senate Republican has signed onto a letter vowing to block all Democratic-backed legislation until the chamber extends the Bush tax cuts and approves a spending bill to keep the government running, Fox News has learned.

Throwing down the gauntlet, all 42 members of the GOP caucus are sending the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warning him that they will bring matters to a standstill unless he swiftly brings those tax-and-spending issues to the floor.

That means putting on the backburner a push to repeal the military's policy banning gays from serving openly in the military, a bill giving illegal immigrant students and military members a pathway to legal status and an extension of long-term unemployment benefits...

Pro-military advocates are warning against the dangers of letting federal district court judges start making significant Pentagon policy, saying it would essentially turn the military over to a network of political appointees who could be swayed by various pressure groups.

If a district court judge in one unilateral order can strike down a legal ban on open gays in the military, as did federal Judge Virginia A. Phillips, then such judges also could strike down the prohibition on women in land combat, or rules on wearing a uniform, or requirements for grooming, or even the war against al Qaeda.

Judge Phillips went beyond ruling the gay ban unconstitutional and letting appeals courts weigh in: She ordered the Pentagon to stop enforcing it — worldwide...

The chairman of a conservative political action committee is not surprised by a California judge's decision to order the Pentagon to suspend investigations related to a controversial military policy, and he doesn't think the Department of Justice plans to appeal.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips ordered an injunction last week, commanding officials to stop enforcing the policy against homosexuals in the military. Phillips struck down the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy last month, but Chuck Muth, chairman of Citizen Outreach PAC, thinks Congress would have had to deal with the policy eventually.

"I think it was only a matter of time before this got tossed out, and Congress is just going to have to deal with the situation again and find a different way to fix it," he suggests...

A conservative military watchdog isn't surprised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would tell a gathering of radical homosexual activists that the ban on homosexuals serving in the military will be a "memory by the end of this year."

Politico.com reports that Speaker Pelosi (D-California) was recently honored by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund at its tenth annual Gay & Lesbian Leadership Awards, where two openly homosexual members of Congress, Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), along with a veritable who's-who of other radical homosexual activists, were in attendance.

The San Francisco Democrat vowed to continue the fight to repeal the 1993 law, which says that homosexuality is not compatible with military service but has been often been confused with Bill Clinton's more lenient "don't ask, don't tell" directive that was never approved by Congress.

WASHINGTON - A defense spending bill including a provision to repeal "Don't ask, Don't tell" was struck down in the Senate Tuesday, slimming the possibility of Democrats overturning the military's ban on homosexuals before year's end.

Supporters attached the repeal to the $726 billion Defense Authorization Act, but were defeated in a 56-43 vote. Democrats were hoping to advance the legislation before the November elections, since the party could potentially lose seats in Congress -- making it even more difficult to overturn "Don't ask, Don't tell."

Republicans argue that America is engaged in full scale war, and repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the military would hurt morale, recruitment and retention, as well as stifle religious liberties...

WASHINGTON - Today the Senate takes up the issue of repealing the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military.

Senate Democrats have attached repeal of the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law to a bill authorizing $726 billion in military spending next year. The fate of the move appears uncertain, but whichever way the votes go, repeal seems destined to become a major issue in this fall's midterm elections.

The law is already under siege. A federal judge in California recently ruled the ban on gays was unconstitutional, even though her opinion doesn't hold any weight with the U-S military....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate is slated to vote this week on the Department of Defense Authorization bill, which includes a provision to allow abortions on military base hospitals both domestically and abroad. The Senate will vote on a motion filed by pro-abortion Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.

He will ask lawmakers to stop the filibuster against the bill and approve a motion to proceed to a vote on the measure.

Most Republicans, potentially joined by a couple of Democrats like Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, are expected to oppose the Reid cloture vote motion and continue with their strong opposition to the bill...