Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The U.S. government is once again prohibiting foreign spouses of gay and lesbian Americans from applying for green cards, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Congressional Democrats on Wednesday went on the offensive, introducing bills in both the House and Senate aimed at repealing the “Defense of Marriage Act.”

A majority of American voters oppose the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as efforts by the House Republican leadership to intervene in court cases defending the law, according to new polling released Tuesday.

A bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act will be re-introduced in the U.S. House on Wednesday, along with a companion bill introduced in the U.S. Senate.

House GOP leadership took a key step this week that will allow it to defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman

House Speaker John Boehner announced Friday that the House would take some action to defend the federal law that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, at least three bills were introduced this week to either defend or expand the reach of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Just one day after House GOP leadership announced they would take action to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is urging Republican leaders not to waste taxpayer resources to defend the unconstitutional law.

Political decisions are a lot like oceanic earthquakes. First, there’s the quake, and then there’s the wave. So it is with the decision by the Obama Department of Justice to call the Defense of Marriage Act — or DOMA — unconstitutional.

In response to the Obama administration’s decision to stop defending the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act in court, House Republicans are now saying they are looking to have a plan in place by late this week to defend the law themselves.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has announced plans to introduce a bill in the U.S. Congress that would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws.