$3 million in taxpayer $$$ to defend anti-gay law

The Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, so anxious to cut spending, has quietly raised to $3 million the legal fees of House-picked lawyers who are defending in federal court the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act.
In a copy of the legal contract, obtained by Huffington Post, the House and its law firm Bancroft LLC — represented by former Solicitor General Paul Clement — agreed to raise the spending ceiling.  A key provision reads:
“It is further understood and agreed that, effective January 4, 2013, the aforementioned $2.75 million cap may be raised from time to time up to, but not exceeding, $3 million upon written notice of the General Contractor specifying that the General Counsel is legally liable.”
House Republicans assumed legal defense of DOMA in the fall of 2011, when the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the 1996 law.
The fate of DOMA now rests with the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Supremes will in March hear an appeal of a federal appellate court ruling against the act.  Two appellate courts and a U.S. District Court have ruled against the law.
DOMA defines marriage, for the purposes of the federal government, as between a man and a woman.  It denies all federal benefits, such as survivor benefits, to same-sex couples.  It allows states that do not have marriage equality to refuse to recognize marriages of same-sex couples in states where it is legal.
Ten states and the District of Columbia now have marriage equality.  Washington, Maryland and Maine voters approved same-sex marriage last November.  The Illinois Legislature is expected to approve marriage equality later this year.
The continued legal defense of DOMA was hidden on page 17 of a 23-page package of rules governing House operations, which was adopted when Congress convened on Jan. 3.
“There was no discussion, no nothing:  It just popped out,” said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.  Commenting on continued defense of an anti-gay law, at a time when public opinion is rapidly changing, McDermott added:  “They cannot see what is going on in the country around them.”
The rules package was drawn up by the House Republican Conference.  Its chairman — they still use the term — is Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Washington, whose state (but not her Eastern Washington district) was voting in November to approve marriage equality.