Jacquelyn Martin/AP
House Speaker John Boehner (file)
A watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Republican House Speaker John Boehner today over how he spent funds to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims he violated the Antideficiency Act, a law designed to stop officials from overspending.
In a response, Boehner's office called CREW’s action “stupid” in a statement.
"This 'complaint' is off-base and stupid to the point that it creates the appearance of partisanship by CREW. The Speaker expects any cost to be recouped from the Obama Administration Justice Department, which should be defending the law in court. The 'anti-deficiency act' has nothing to do with this situation, as anyone with a basic grasp of the law knows."
In February, the Department of Justice announced it would no long defend DOMA in 10 pending court challenges. Boehner's office then signed a contract with an outside firm for $500,000 to defend the federal law.
DOMA defines marriages as a legal union between one man and one woman.
CREW sent the complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Inspector General to investigate. The complaint could eventually get kicked up the chain to the House Ethics Committee.
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No kidding?!?
I declare!
Tell Speaker Boehner that DOMA is indefensible. Take action @ citizensforethics.org/doma
of course anything or one that does not agree with Speaker BONER is stupid
Just goes to prove, none of us are perfect, I hope he doesn't cry.
John, unrine for breakfast, Boehner is living in an alternate universe. "The Speaker expects any cost to be recouped from the Obama Administration Justice Department, which should be defending the law in court." The fact that the administration's traditional role is to defend laws enacted by congress, it is not obligated to do so. The Republican party, lead by Boehner, bent over backwards to defend their bigoted law, and they deliberately hide the tax payer money used to defend DOMA while they pretend to be financially responsible.
Republicans are liars and thieves. Boehner should pay for his crime, and his family sucks too.
This whole congress is turning into one big soap opera. They could write a book but nobody would ever believe it.
Good news...Thanks Lawrence!!!
The anti-gay marriage folk are motivated by pure malice. They might as well enact a law saying that all gay people are required to sprinkle dog excrement on their food.
The DOMA law has no positive effect whatsoever for the bigots . They simply want to make life miserable for those they hate but do not even know. It bizarre that the constitution condones such spite.
Christian bigots and scapegoats go together like ham and eggs. The chosen scapegoat group has changed over time:
In each case, Christian bigots wanted someone to lord it over so they could feel important and especially loved by their god. They used religion to justify their pointless, spiteful behaviour toward the scapegoat group. They always found ways to restrict the civil rights of the scapegoat group. They alway found ways to force the scapegoat group to act in symbolic deferential ways. The DOMA (Defence of Marriage Act) is just more of the same in the scapegoat tradition. Today’s bigots are trying to set up a two-tier apartheid system for gays just like the one they had for blacks for so many centuries.
Speaker Boehner is such an embarrassment to his position. The right loves to demonize Nancy Pelosi as if she's the worst thing that happened to the world since the USSR, but (while I completely disagree with that) at least she got things done in an efficient way. Until the Speaker gets something of value done, he will just continue to be known as a tanned crying man.
I wish CREW the best of luck with getting to the bottom of this.
its just a title for boehner. he knows nothing about doing the JOB.
like W., he is clueless.
As much as I dislike W and everything he messed up (seriously, what did he get right?) he did get things done. Of course not necessary things like helping out after Katrina, but what he wanted to do, he got done, even if it was wildly unpopular. This Speaker? Not so much. I suspect he will continue being known as the guy with the tan who cries a lot.
will somebody please tell me why they are not going after boner for having two women on the side in washington while his wife was at home trusting he would be the perfect husband on the hill huh huh???? what is going on in washington,they are a bunch of horney idiots we trust to make decisions FOR THE PEOPLE and all we get is the same old thing that we do out here in america all of the stuff we are trying to keep out of the movies for fear our children will see it has taken it's toal on our congressmen and senators. wives of congressmen and senators have to give it up more often because they are all crazy.
Well, John of Orange did create some jobs ... I figure a few lawyers can be employed with $500,000.
My guess is that John of Orange started crying when he was served with the complaint ... he's such a wuss.