The Obama administration wants to halt the enforcement of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
    
The Pentagon has been slowly implementing the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, to make sure it didn't hurt troops' abilities to fight. 

But last week, a federal appeals court ruled the ban should take effect immediately. 
    
Now the Department of Justice has filed a motion asking the court to reconsider its decision.

"The Department has filed a motion asking the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its order lifting the stay of the injunction on the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy to avoid short-circuiting the repeal process established by Congress during the final stages of the implementation of repeal," Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said in a statement.

"Senior military leaders are expected to make their decision on certifying (the) repeal within the next few weeks," she added.
    
Lawyers for the Justice Department say ending the ban now would hurt the "orderly process" of rolling back the 17-year-old policy.