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Senate Republicans led by a doubting John McCain dug in their heels Thursday against allowing gays to serve openly in the military, clashing with the Pentagon's top leaders and dimming Democrats' hopes to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" this year.

In tense exchanges with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, McCain and other Republicans dismissed a Pentagon study on gays as biased and said objections by combat troops were being ignored.

McCain blamed politics for pushing the matter forward during wartime, and he predicted soldiers and Marines would quit in droves if they had to serve next to gays open about their sexual orientation. He scoffed at testimony by Gates and Mullen, who said concerns among some combat troops could be addressed through time and training.

"We send these young people into combat," said McCain. "We think they're mature enough to fight and die. I think they're mature enough to make a judgment on who they want to serve with and the impact on their battle effectiveness."

McCain, a four-term Republican and former Navy pilot who endured a harrowing ordeal as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, has taken a higher profile on socially divisive issues since losing the 2008 presidential race to Barack Obama. He has even differed with his wife, Cindy, who in a recent online video opposed the military policy and accused the government of treating gays like "second-class citizens."

McCain's opposition foreshadows this month's Senate debate on a bill to overturn the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law banning gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised a Senate vote, but Republicans have blocked previous attempts on procedural grounds. Further hurting chances of repeal is an agreement among the Senate GOP not to vote on any bill this month before addressing tax cuts and government spending.

Throughout Thursday's hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain was openly dismissive of Gates and Mullen, appearing angry and even suggesting at one point that the two leaders had failed personally because their 10-month study didn't directly ask troops whether the law should be repealed.

"Every great leader I've ever known always consulted subordinates for their reviews, no matter what the issue," McCain said.

Mullen took particular exception to suggestions by McCain that his opinion was less valuable because he wasn't directly commanding troops from his perch at the Pentagon.

"You do not have to agree with me on this issue," Mullen said. "But don't think for one moment that I haven't carefully considered the impact of the advice I give on those who will have to live with the decisions that advice informs."

Gates and Mullen on Thursday asked Congress to act as soon as possible to pre-empt further intervention from federal courts.

Earlier this fall, a federal judge in California shook the Pentagon's cautious effort by ordering the department to stop enforcing the ban. For eight days, the ban was lifted, creating confusion and uncertainty among troops until an appeals court granted a stay and reasserted the policy.

"Repeal of the law will not prove unacceptable risk to military readiness," Mullen told the Senate panel on Thursday. "Unit cohesion will not suffer if our units are well-led. And families will not encourage their loved ones to leave the service in droves."

The Pentagon study focused on whether troops envisioned any impact on unit morale and effectiveness. Two-thirds predicted few problems.

Gates said that asking troops if they want to serve alongside gays would amount to issuing a referendum on a