House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Monday that he wants to cut the Justice Department’s funding because the Obama administration has decided not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“Obviously, DOJ’s decision results in DOJ no longer needing the funds it would have otherwise expended defending the constitutionality of DOMA,” Boehner wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “It is my intent that those funds be diverted to the House for reimbursement of any costs incurred by and associated with the House, and not DOJ, defending DOMA.”
It was not immediately clear how Boehner would determine the amount of money that DOJ would have spend on defending DOMA. A Boehner spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on how that amount would be determined. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boehner wrote in the letter that the cost associated with DOJ’s decision “is exacerbated by the timing of this decision” because most of the DOMA cases are in the middle of lower court litigation.
“Had the Attorney General waited until the cases were ripe for certiorari to the Supreme Court, the costs associated with the House defense would have been exponentially lower,” Boehner wrote.
“I would welcome your joining me in support of redirecting those resources from the DOJ to the House that would otherwise have been necessary expenses on the Attorney General to defend this federal statute,” Boehner wrote to Pelosi.
“In the interim, I have directed House Counsel and House Administration Committee to assure that sufficient resources and associated expertise, including outside counsel, are available for appropriately defending the federal statute that the Attorney General refuses to defend,” he wrote.
Boehner’s letter came on the heels of Friday’s House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Obama administration’s decision not to defend DOMA because they found part of the law unconstitutional.
Read the full letter here.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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