Barney Frank

Barney Frank: America On The Verge Of Marriage Equality 'Within 10 Years'

Sahil Kapur | May 10, 2012, 6:15AM

Longtime Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the first member of Congress to reveal himself to be gay, told TPM he was very happy to see President Obama endorse same-sex marriage, but characterized the move as a political no-brainer that would have little impact on the 2012 election.

"I do not think anybody is going to switch his or her opinion on him because of this," Frank said shortly after Obama's announcement Wednesday afternoon. "I believe that if you are someone who was going to be so influenced by your position on same-sex marriage, then you would already be against Obama before this, because of his position on [the Defense of Marriage Act]."

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Herman Cain

Herman Cain: We Really Should Impeach Obama Over DOMA

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 17, 2011, 9:33AM

Herman Cain

Herman Cain, fresh off his fifth-place finish in the Ames Straw Poll, is embracing another one of the extreme positions that have turned him into such a polling success.

Politico reports Cain said Tuesday that impeaching Obama "would be a great thing to do" given Obama's clearly impeachable offenses like signing the health care reform bill into law and declaring the Defense Of Marriage Act unconstitutional. But, sadly, Cain said, the divided Congress stands in the way of removing Obama from office.

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DOMA

With Obama's DOMA Repeal Move, Dan Savage Says Gay Politics Have Gone Mainstream

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 19, 2011, 4:08PM

Dan Savage

Dan Savage says President Obama's decision to support efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act signals a big shift in the way Democratic politicians handle the LGBT community -- a community that often supports them, only to see their hopes dashed once those Democrats take office.

He credited the move as a sign gay politics are now going mainstream.

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DOMA

Obama Officially Backs Measure To Repeal DOMA

Susan Crabtree | July 19, 2011, 3:03PM

President Barack Obama (D)

President Obama is officially backing legislation that would repeal the 1996 Defense Of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law.

The President has "long called for a legislative appeal for the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on families," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at Tuesday's briefing.

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Same Sex Marriage

For First Time Ever, Gallup Finds Majority Support Same Sex Marriage

Jon Terbush | May 20, 2011, 11:11AM

In a historic shift, a Gallup poll released Friday morning finds that for the first time, a majority of Americans suport legalizing same sex marriage.

That result reinforces a trove of recent polls that have produced similar findings, and it furthers a trend of Americans gradually becoming more accepting of legal recognition for same sex couples. It comes as Republicans are taking legal action over the Obama administration's decision to no longer defend parts of the Defense of Marriage Act on grounds of constitutionality.

In the poll, 53% of Americans said they supported same sex marriage, compared to 45% who said they did not. That's almost exactly the opposite of what Gallup found last year, when 53% of Americans opposed same sex marriage, while 44% supported it.

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Gay Marriage

Behind A Major Law Firm's Decision To Ditch Its Defense Of DOMA

Brian Beutler | April 25, 2011, 5:33PM

When the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding announced on April 18 that it would represent the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, it apparently didn't realize what a mess it had made for itself.

Exactly one week later, the firm reversed its decision, prompting a high-profile partner -- former Solicitor General Paul Clement -- to resign publicly, and House Speaker John Boehner's staff to issue a statement criticizing the firm for "its careless disregard for its responsibilities to the House in this constitutional matter."

As public relations debacles go, this was a doozy. But the firm must have calculated that the alternative would have been worse. In the intervening week, a series of public and behind-the-scenes developments made it clear that the firm would suffer recriminations for defending what many of its top clients and future recruits -- not to mention gay rights advocates -- consider to be an anti-gay law.

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Defense Of Marriage Act

Boehner Picks Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement To Defend DOMA

Ryan J. Reilly | April 18, 2011, 3:45PM

Attorney Gen. Eric Holder and Paul Clement

Former Bush-era Solicitor General Paul Clement will defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on behalf of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner announced Monday.

Boehner's appointment followed Attorney General Eric Holder's decision that the Obama Justice Department would not defend DOMA, a 1996 law which defines marriage as a legal union only between one man and one woman.

The Republican's appointment quickly drew praise from the anti-gay marriage camp and ire from marriage equality supporters. In dueling press releases, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) praised Clement as a "legal eagle on this case who actually wants to win in court," while the Human Rights Campaign called Clement "a high priced attorney" who Boehner hired "to deny federal recognition to loving, married couples."

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DOMA

Boehner: DOJ Funds Should Be Cut Since They Wouldn't Defend DOMA

Ryan J. Reilly | April 18, 2011, 12:10PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

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).

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DOMA

Dem Poll: Majority Oppose Defense of Marriage Act, Support Obama Position

Benjy Sarlin | March 15, 2011, 3:01PM

House Republican leaders are mounting their own legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act following President Obama's decision to drop support for portions of the bill, slamming the White House for abandoning legislation that passed with overwhelming support under President Clinton. But according to one poll commissioned by a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, the White House is on the right side of public opinion today.

According to the poll, which was conducted by Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Americans oppose DOMA 51%-34%, including a similar 52%-34% split among independents. A similar proportion disagree with the Republican decision to defend the law, 54% to 32%.

DOMA prevents the federal government from recognizing gay marriage in states where it is legal, a provision of the law the Department of Justice says is unconstitutional.

DOMA

Boehner: House Will Intervene To Defend DOMA

Brian Beutler | March 9, 2011, 6:06PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

In a statement Wednesday night, House Speaker John Boehner officially announced his intent for the House to intervene as a third party defendant in court cases challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

"Today, after consultation with the Bipartisan Leadership Advisory Group, the House General Counsel has been directed to initiate a legal defense of this law," Boehner said in the statement. "This action by the House will ensure that this law's constitutionality is decided by the courts, rather than by the President unilaterally."

In a letter to Boehner announcing the administration's decision not to defend the law in court, Holder nudged at the idea that Boehner could step in and do it himself. Not that they want the law to prevail in court, of course, but because they're perfectly happy for a GOP leader to become the face of what has become an unpopular cause.

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Rick Santorum

Has Santorum Slipped On Outlawing Gay Sex?

Eric Kleefeld | March 8, 2011, 9:06AM

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Could former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), the culture warrior ex-legislator and now potential presidential candidate, be shifting his position to the left on a key issue he used to speak up about: Whether gay sex should be illegal?

On Monday, Santorum wrote a guest column in the Des Moines Register, lambasting President Obama for "refusing to enforce" the Defense of Marriage Act -- in fact, the administration has not stopped enforcing it, they are just no longer defending it in court -- as nothing less than a betrayal of the shoeless armies of the American Revolution who fought for religious freedom.

But at one point in the column, Santorum sought to make a distinction between gay people's private lives, versus the public sanction and recognition that comes with gay marriage:

Let me first define what we are not talking about. I believe if two adults of the same sex want to have a relationship that is their business. But when they ask society to give that relationship special recognition and privileges, then we should be able to have a rational debate about whether that is good public policy.

But hold on a second. Back when he was a senator, Santorum used to say that people's private sexual lives weren't just their own business.

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Rick Santorum

Santorum: DOMA Decision 'A Dagger' In The Heart Of The Shoeless Continental Army

Jillian Rayfield | March 7, 2011, 10:26AM

Fmr. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Rick Santorum described on Monday the Obama Administration's decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act as "a dagger in the heart" of 1777, when the Continental Army "was struggling to muster shoes and victory," and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were fighting for religious freedom.

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Eric Holder

Holder: Legal Landscape Has Changed 'Fairly Fundamentally' Since DOMA Passed

Ryan J. Reilly | March 1, 2011, 10:00AM

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Attorney General Eric Holder

"Congress has a reason to be concerned" over the Justice Department's decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) said Tuesday.

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Newt Gingrich

Gingrich: Obama's DOMA Move Sounds Impeachable To Me (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 25, 2011, 6:34PM

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich knows a thing or two about presidential impeachments. And after the Obama's administration's decision on the Defense of Marriage Act, Gingrich says the smell impeachment is in the air once again.

Speaking with Newsmax, the former House Speaker and oft-rumored 2012 presidential contender said that the Obama administration's decision to no longer defend DOMA in federal court is a "a violation" of President Obama's "Constitutional oath and clearly it is something which cannot be allowed to stand."

The host asked Gingrich "is what Obama's doing impeachable in your view?"

Gingrich: "I think that's something you get to much later."

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Defense of Marriage Act

Huckabee Slams Obama On DOMA, Implies Link Between Gay Marriage And Broken Homes

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2011, 4:47PM

Fmr. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R)

Likely Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee mauled President Obama's decision to halt the Justice Department's legal defenses of DOMA at a roundtable lunch with reporters on Wednesday. In defense of his position, he claimed a public mandate for the controversial Clinton-era law, and linked same sex marriage to the failure of heterosexual marriages.

"I'm deeply disappointed," Huckabee said. "They are clearly out of sync with the public."

Huckabee noted that 33 states have affirmed, via ballot initiatives, that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

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Defense of Marriage Act

Boehner Spox: It's Not The Appropriate Time To Nix DOMA Defense

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2011, 1:39PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel questions the Obama administration's decision to halt its legal defense of DOMA.

"While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the President will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation," he said in a statement.

In a letter to Boehner, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote "[o]ur attorneys will also notify the courts of our interest in providing Congress a full and fair opportunity to participate in the litigation in those [DOMA] cases." Boehner could, in theory, intervene as a third party defendant in those cases, or could sue Holder, or could just make a fuss that amounts to nothing. But there's no indication yet of what he will actually do..

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