As of this month, taxpayers have spent $1,447,996.73 defending a law that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, according to numbers released Tuesday by House Democrats. The contract that House Republicans entered into with an outside law firm to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) currently has a cap of $1.5 million.
House Republicans began paying to defend the law in court after President Barack Obama decided in early 2011 that the Justice Department would stop defending DOMA after determining the 1996 law was unconstitutional.