HRC Blog

When the Obama Administration determined that they couldn’t mount a legal defense to the Defense of Marriage Act – the law that denies federal recognition to legally married gay and lesbian couples – House Speaker John Boehner entered into a contract with private attorneys to defend the law in court with a cap of legal fees at $500,000.  A new contract that was revealed today increases that amount to $1.5 million.

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese issued the following statement:

“There seems to be no limit to how much taxpayer money the House Republican leadership is willing to spend to keep this discriminatory law on the books.  At a time when budgeting is the watchword in Washington, Americans will be rightly aghast at this boondoggle for right-wing lawyers.  The Defense of Marriage Act singles out same-sex couples for unfair treatment and no amount of money can overcome the fact that it flies in the face of our cherished constitutional principles.”