House Leaders to Defend DOMA

Members of the House leadership decided Wednesday that they would defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal lawsuits, stepping in for the Department of Justice, which announced a halt to defending such cases, under the direction of the president.

In a 3-2 vote by the members of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, House speaker John Boehner, majority leader Eric Cantor, and majority whip Kevin McCarthy voted to defend the law, with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer voting in the minority.

"Given the complexity and number of cases, this legal challenge would sap hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, if not more, during a time of limited fiscal resources," Pelosi said in a statement. "Pursuing this legal challenge distracts from our core challenges: creating jobs, strengthening the middle class, and responsibly reducing the deficit. And that is why I voted against this action today."

There are currently 10 pending lawsuits challenging DOMA. A source told Pelosi and Hoyer that the House's intervention would take at least of 18 months, and it may be years before the U.S. Supreme Court can hear the cases involved.

Despite Boehner's statement touting the vote as being bipartisan, a group of Democratic lawmakers say the decision was far from impartial. Democratic representatives Jerrold Nadler, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, David Cicilline, and John Conyers said in a statement shortly after the vote that the action was a display of "partisanship at its worst."

Leader Pelosi's statement:

President Obama took a bold step forward for civil rights when he announced that the federal government would no longer argue to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act in court. DOMA is discriminatory; it's unfair and indefensible; and it betrays our nation's long-held - and long-cherished - value of equality for all.

Since its proposal and passage, this legislation has raised constitutional questions and has been viewed as a violation of the equal protection clause. The House should not be in the business of defending an unconstitutional statute that is neither rational nor serves any governmental interest. DOMA actually discriminates against American families.

Given the complexity and number of cases, this legal challenge would sap hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, if not more, during a time of limited fiscal resources.

Pursuing this legal challenge distracts from our core challenges: creating jobs, strengthening the middle class, and responsibly reducing the deficit. And that is why I voted against this action today.