Yesterday, I wrote about the wonderful fact that the U.S. Justice Department, under orders from President Obama, will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the courts. Obama had determined, and Attorney General Eric Holder agreed, that DOMA is discriminatory, and therefore unconstitutional. But I'm afraid the issue could remain hung up in the courts for quite a while.
However, DOMA will soon be under attack from another direction - Congress!
On Wednesday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reacted to the Obama-Justice decision by announcing that she will introduce legislation that would repeal DOMA.
On the House side, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said he plans to reintroduce his Respect for Marriage Act, which would also repeal DOMA. Nadler had introduced the bill in the last Congress, but it got nowhere.
Unfortunately, I am afraid that it will get nowhere again, along with Sen. Feinstein's bill. After all, we're now looking at a much more conservative Congress than the one that repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell last December.
But it's worth a try.
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