Holder: Feds have ‘expunged’ more than 1,000 DOMA laws

One year after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Attorney General Eric Holder reported to President Obama on Friday that the Justice Department has been working diligently to “expunge” more than 1,000 federal laws that discriminate against same-sex couples. 

In the report, Holder called it an “unprecedented effort spanning nearly every federal agency” to recognize gay marriage.

“At your direction, the Department of Justice immediately began working with other federal agencies to make the promise of the (Supreme Court) decision a reality — to identify every federal law, rule, policy, and practice in which marital status is a relevant consideration, expunge (DOMA’s) discriminatory effect, and ensure that committed and loving married couples throughout the country would receive equal treatment by their federal government regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Holder also reported that the federal government has issued a handful of policies recognizing gay marriage for tax purposes, and providing health insurance and retirement benefits to the same-sex spouses of federal workers, among other things. 

The report comes on the same day that the Obama administration announced two new policies protecting same-sex couples. The Hill‘s Justin Sink reports that same-sex couples will now be eligible for federal benefits regardless of whether the state they live in recognizes gay marriage.

The Federal Register provided more details on the announcement Friday morning.

The Justice Department said it is moving forward with a new policy that will allow the same-sex spouses of public safety officers to receive the same employee benefits that the spouses of traditionally married officers would receive, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said it is considering a new policy that would allow federal employees to take a leave of absence from work to care for a same-sex spouse who has serious health problems or is pregnant.

This has effectively been the Obama administration’s policy since last October, but this would make it official.