Speaker of the House John Boehner‘s BLAG last week claimed that if the Supreme Court rules DOMA unconstitutional, it will have caused “a direct injury on the House.” Boehner’s BLAG, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which has a Republican majority that is forcing the House to defend DOMA in the federal courts, is also claiming that the case before the Supreme Court justices has caused “a party aggrieved.â€
“That party is, of course, the House.”
Yes, the problem with DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, is that if it’s ruled unconstitutional — as President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and dozens of federal judges have agreed it is — is that the House would be harmed.
Meanwhile, the House is the people’s representatives, and represents — like it or not — one million same-sex parents raising two million children, and these families are harmed daily by the anti-gay animus that is DOMA.
You should also know that Speaker Boehner — himself a member of the BLAG — has repeatedly, secretly, increased the budget his BLAG is allowed to spend on Boehner’s hand-picked private lawyer, Paul Clement, to now $3 million.
You should also know the BLAG is composed of a five-member panel (PDF):
The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group currently is comprised of the Honorable John A. Boehner, Speaker of the House, the Honorable Eric Cantor, Majority Leader, the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader, and the Honorable Steny H. Hoyer, Democratic Whip. The Democratic Leader and the Democratic Whip have declined to support the position taken by the Group on the merits of DOMA Section 3’s constitutionality in this and other cases.
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Related:
Republicans File Brief in Support Of DOMA – Gays Are Doing Fine Without Any Help
House GOP’s Anti-Gay Supreme Court Brief Reads Like 1950′s Racist Propaganda
DOMA: Supreme Court Doesn’t Have Jurisdiction, House Doesn’t Have Standing Says SCOTUS Lawyer
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