( CNN ) -- The Pentagon is set to certify that the U.S. military is prepared to accept openly gay and lesbian service members , and doing so will not harm military readiness , a U.S. official told CNN on Thursday . According to the official , who spoke on condition of not being identified , an announcement of that certification -- which is required to repeal the `` do n't ask , do n't tell '' policy -- is likely to come Friday . Under a bill passed last year that set up a process for repealing the controversial policy , Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen , along with President Barack Obama , have to sign a certification that confirms the military 's ability to accept the integration of openly gay and lesbian troops . Even after certification , there will be a 60-day waiting period before the repeal is fully implemented . In a statement Thursday , one of the leading groups advocating for repeal , Servicemembers United , said it had expected Panetta to act on certification after assessing the situation since he succeeded Robert Gates as defense secretary on July 1 . `` We are glad to see that just three weeks into his tenure as secretary of defense , he ( Panetta ) is already confident that this policy change can take place with little or no disruption to military readiness , '' said the Servicemembers United statement . Repealing the `` do n't ask , do n't tell '' policy would end a convoluted legal battle led by human rights and gay rights groups . A gay rights group -- the Log Cabin Republicans -- had sued over the 18-year-old ban on openly gay and lesbian members serving in the U.S. armed forces . In September U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips declared the military 's ban to be unconstitutional and demanded the government immediately stop enforcing it . U.S. officials have been moving ahead with dismantling `` do n't ' ask , do n't tell '' but had objected to having the courts force the government to officially repeal it . The case put the Obama administration in an unusual position of supporting a repeal but at the same time filing court motions to prevent it from happening faster than planned . Last week , a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated the policy , but banned the military services from investigating or discharging anyone under the rule . The 9th U.S . Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in California issued the order late Friday after the Obama administration asked it to reconsider its recent order temporarily blocking the policy . On Thursday , the Log Cabin Republicans filed a legal challenge to the appellate court 's temporary reinstatement of the policy , arguing that the unconstitutional statute would continue to harm the rights of gay and lesbian service members until it was fully repealed .
Note : A group that supports the repeal praises new Defense Secretary Panetta . An official says an announcement will come Friday . Certification means the Army is ready to train openly gay and lesbian troops . Full certification would take effect 60 days after certification .