A single judge in California and a dysfunctional Congress has put the Obama administration in the bizarre position of fighting in court to maintain a law the president wants repealed.

But following a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips that orders the military to immediately end its ban on openly gay troops, the administration has little choice: Appeal to keep the ban in place while Congress and the Pentagon work through a change of policy, or let the ruling stand and let one judge make law.

Even if you agree with the outcome — and we support a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — it is hard to accept one person’s opinion as the final word on the subject.

What this ruling does is shine a light on a glaring failure of the political process. Seventeen years after President Bill Clinton tried and failed to keep his campaign promise of ending the ban on gays in the military, leaders are still shuffling around the issue, preferring no action instead of open debate.

The latest example came last month when the Senate Republicans, with support of both of Maine’s senators, filibustered a bill preventing a “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal amendment from coming to the floor.

But this can’t be blamed on Republican obstructionism alone: The defense authorization bill that contained the amendment was rushed through by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid under a special rule that allowed no Republican amendments.

The procedural issue caused Republicans who would have been inclined to repeal the policy, like Sen. Susan Collins, from voting for it. And it gave Democrats who may have wanted to duck a controversial vote just before an election an out.

Into that leadership vacuum walked Judge Phillips, who took the logical next step following her earlier ruling that the policy was unconstitutional. If the federal government does not appeal, the ruling would stand and the policy would be dead.

But the public and the military deserve a better process than that. The administration should appeal the ruling, if only to give Congress another chance to do its job and get rid of a law that 70 percent of Americans oppose. It’s not enough to end “don’t ask, don’t tell;” it should also be ended in the right way.

 

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