House Dems condemn GOP’s tripling of Defense of Marriage lawyer contract

House Democrats are condemning a Republican-sanctioned $1 million spending increase to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

In a news release Tuesday, Democratic Reps. Robert Brady (Pa.), Charles Gonzalez (Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) criticized their GOP colleagues for increasing the contract with the lawyer hired to defend DOMA from $500,000 to $1.5 million.

In May, Bancroft PLLC lawyer Paul Clement was hired to represent Congress in defense of DOMA, which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

{mosads}“We were disappointed to learn that House Republicans will spend even more money on defending the indefensible and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act,” the Democratic lawmakers said of the proposed tripling of the contract.

“The original contract was a misguided promise to waste a half-million dollars of taxpayer money. Further spending to defend DOMA is simply unconscionable,” added the lawmakers, who are the only three Democratic members of the House Administration Committee.

The same three lawmakers pushed Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for information regarding the original contract, sending a letter in May requesting that all members of the House Administration Committee be able to review the document.

“Our letters of warning and our questions about how any of the numbers were reached and where the money would come from have gone unanswered,” the Democrats said. “The entire contracting process has lacked any semblance of transparency.”

The lawmakers called on Republicans yet again to justify the expenditure, calling it a “complete waste of taxpayer money.”

“We call on the Republican Leadership to explain why they will invest in protecting discrimination and how any of this can put Americans back to work,” they added.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was quick to defend her fellow Democrats.

“It is absolutely unconscionable that Speaker Boehner is tripling the cost for his legal boondoggle to defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said Tuesday in a news release.

“At a time when Americans are hurting and job creation should be the top priority, it just shows how out of touch House Republicans have become that they would spend up to $1.5 million dollars to defend discrimination in our country,” he added.

Boehner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.