House Panel Orders DOMA Intervention

By a 3-2 vote, the leaders of the U.S. House voted today to intervene in the DOMA cases presently in the courts.

In a party-line vote of 3-2, the five-member Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group composed of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Democrats House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), gave the House general counsel the authority to retain outside counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Speaker Boehner issued a statement after the vote.

"Today, after consultation with the Bipartisan Leadership Advisory Group, the House General Counsel has been directed to initiate a legal defense of this law," Boehner said in the statement. "This action by the House will ensure that this law's constitutionality is decided by the courts, rather than by the President unilaterally."

During the vote, Pelosi and Hoyer demanded to know where the money was coming from.

"Pelosi and Hoyer both pressed the General Counsel on what this case would cost the House of Representatives," according to the source. "General Counsel Kerry Kirchner would only say it would "not be inexpensive." Mr. Kirchner noted that there are currently at least 10 cases and he does not have the in-house resources to deal with that many cases as he has a staff of five with one lawyer currently on maternity leave." The intervention will take 18 months minimum, Kirchner informed the leaders. He noted, too, that previous Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, have opted not to defend laws in court.

The Human Rights Campaign reacts to the vote.

“Apparently, the Republicans’ jobs plan is a full employment project for right-wing lawyers bent on defending discrimination,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “With today’s vote, Speaker Boehner has made clear that an anti-equality agenda trumps helping American families in tough economic times, including loving and committed couples who are legally married in their states.”