No Defense Of The Indefensible

Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department have determined that they believe Title 38, the legislation that bans married same-sex couples from receiving military spousal benefits is in violation of the Fifth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.  As such, they'll no longer defend it in court.  Holder's letter to Congress reads in part:

“The legislative record of these provisions contains no rationale for providing veterans’ benefits to opposite-sex couples of veterans but not to legally married same-sex spouses of veterans,” Holder wrote. “Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs identified any justifications for that distinction that would warrant treating these provisions differently from Section 3 of DOMA.”

Holder said DOJ would no longer defend the provisions in Title 38 which prevent same-sex couples who are legally married from obtaining benefits. He said that Congress would be provided a “full and fair opportunity” to defend the statues in the McLaughlin v. Panetta case if they wished to do so.

It's a step.  In the end however, it will take either the legislative or the judicial to overturn DOMA.