DOMA: Republicans lose big-money law firm but keep key lawyer
The law firm that congressional Republicans hired to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) drops out unexpectedly, though a top lawyer has quit the firm to stay on the case.
Pali Cooper her wife Jeanne Rizzo, of Tiburon, Calif., appear at the introduction of a Senate bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, on Capitol Hill on March 16.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
The law firm hired by congressional Republicans to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court said Monday that it was pulling out of the agreement. But a key member of the firm's legal team has resigned from the company in protest and looks set to continue to defend the gay-marriage ban, despite the controversy surrounding it.
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The Atlanta-based law firm of King and Spalding had been under fire from gay-rights groups for accepting the job to defend the law, which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. King and Spalding Chairman Robert Hays released a statement saying the firm's vetting process had been "inadequate."
Paul Clement, a solicitor general in the Bush administration, disagreed with the decision to withdraw. He announced that he has left King and Spalding and has taken a position at Bancroft, a Washington-based firm founded by former Bush administration officials. A spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner (R) said Mr. Clement will continue his DOMA work on behalf of Congress.
"I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client's legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters,” Clement wrote in a statement. He added that his personal views on DOMA did not affect his decision, and that “having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it."
DOMA, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1996, bars same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits and protections given to heterosexual married couples.
After months in which critics say the Obama administration half-heartedly defended DOMA, administration officials announced in February that they would no longer defend the law in court, because they believed the law unconstitutional. President Obama later urged Congress to repeal DOMA, which currently faces court challenges in Connecticut and Massachusetts, two of the five states which recognize same-sex marriage.
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