Republican Priorities

[nyxelestia]

So, apparently Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, plans to divert money from the Department of Justice to pay for the Republicans' fight to defend the constitutionality of DOMA.

I've commented a bit on it here.

But, the tl;dr of it is, "so this is what they considering worth spending money on!". :|

Comments

[tko_ak]

The Department of Justice would normally handle such cases. If the Department of Justice isn't, Congress is basically who has standing. But they have legal bills. I may disagree with their view completely, but I can understand the logic of why they're making this move.

[tko_ak]

I think they're mistaken to be defending it, but it's important for the system that the executive branch be unable to essentially nullify a law by refusing to defend (or enforce) it. Because standing is an issue, Congress is the natural alternative to defend a law in the courts. Short of setting aside money when they appropriate it, taking it from the department that would (and they think, should) normally defend it is rational, even if their views on DOMA are not.

Of course, I wonder if if they would be so gung-ho if they had to take the money out of their own office budgets to pay for it.

[marauderthesn]

Looking at the article, I can't tell if it's really "they" or if it's more Boehner himself. God knows sometimes people elect someone and end up opposing the decisions he makes later.

Regardless of how dumb a law might be, the role of the Department of Justice is to uphold it regardless of how the attorney general and/or the president feel about it. There's a place to get rid of DOMA, but it's not the Department of Justice. I think there's eye-roll-inducing behavior on both sides here.