The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a high-profile hearing today on the military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell— policy, featuring testimony from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[IMGCAP(1)]Gates and Mullen are expected to discuss a plan for repealing the policy from President Bill Clinton’s era that bans gays from openly serving in the military. President Barack Obama called for an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell— in his State of the Union address last week, breathing new life into the politically sensitive issue.

Today’s hearing, scheduled for noon in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-50, will be the first Congressional review of “don’t ask, don’t tell— since it was first implemented in 1993. Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine) have expressed interest in addressing the issue this year, although legislation has yet to emerge in the Senate. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), an Iraq War veteran, has taken the lead in the House.