If Obama Won’t Fight Gay Marriage, Conservatives Will

WASHINGTON (RNS) If President Obama and the U.S. Department of Justice no longer want to defend the Defense of Marriage Act from challenges by gay rights activists, who will? Leading conservative law firms say they’re eager to defend the 1996 law that defines marriage...

Obama Drops Defense of Anti-gay-marriage Law

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Obama administration announced on Wednesday (Feb. 23) it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, a nearly 15-year-old law that defines marriage as heterosexual unions. In a letter to Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder said President...

Critics Waiting for Action from Faith-based Office

WASHINGTON (RNS) Six months after advisers turned in 164 pages of recommendations to the White House’s faith-based office, thorny church-state questions remain unanswered and some critics say the office has been used to push the president’s health care reform. Much of...