House Speaker John Boehner has promised
action to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“The long and the short of this is
that we are going to intervene,” Boehner
told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday.
Obama
announced last week that his administration would no longer
defend the 1996 law that bans federal agencies from recognizing the
legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples and allows states to
ignore such marriages from out of state. The president said he
believes parts of the law are unconstitutional.
“DOMA is the law of the land,”
Boehner told Van Susteren. “It passed overwhelming in the House
and the Senate. And I think it's outrageous for the president to
say, 'Well, we're not going to enforce it.' It's the law of the
land. It's the job of the Justice Department to defend the work of
our government. And I just think it's outrageous. We're looking at
our options, what's available to us to intervene. The short – the
long and the short of this is that we are going to intervene. The
question is how do we do it.”
On Monday, House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor told reporters to expect an announcement on the issue on
Friday.