Can Federal employees obtain spousal benefits provided by Title 5 for their same sex spouses/domestic partners if they are legally married under state law?
No. At this time, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), codified at 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C, defines the term “marriage” as found in Federal benefits statutes to mean “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife” and the term “spouse” to mean “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” For those benefits of federal employment that are limited to spouses, DOMA thus prohibits coverage of same-sex domestic partners, even if legally married under state law. President Obama and the Attorney General have announced that the current Administration will no longer defend DOMA in court because of the Administration’s view that DOMA is unconstitutional. Nonetheless, until Congress repeals DOMA or there is a final judicial ruling that strikes it down, the Administration continues to enforce DOMA because it is the law. See http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/February/11-ag-222.html.
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