House Will Defend DOMA In Court

House Speaker John Boehner announced Wednesday that after consultation with the Bipartisan Leadership Advisory Group, he has directed the House General Counsel to initiate a legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.  Boehner had announced last week that he was convening the Advisory Group after the Obama administration decided that it would no longer defend DOMA's constitutionality. (See prior posting.) According to AHN, the Advisory Committee's vote in favor of defending the law was 3-2, along party lines. Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, criticized Boehner's action, saying: "The Republicans' jobs plan is a full employment project for right-wing lawyers bent on defending discrimination." [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]