From the Heritage Foundation:
Fifteen states have filed an amicus brief in support of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), urging the Supreme Court to review an appellate court panel’s decision striking down the law.
Passed by broad bipartisan majorities and signed by President Clinton in 1996, DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law and ensures that states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages entered into in states that have redefined the institution.
Like all congressionally passed laws, DOMA should be vigorously defended in court by the U.S. Department of Justice. That’s not the case here. Instead, in an extraordinary move, the Obama Administration first undermined, and then abandoned completely, its defense of DOMA. The House of Representatives was forced to step in and provide a defense of DOMA in this and numerous other cases challenging the statute.