In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA, P.L. 104-199 ) "[t]o define and protect the institution of marriage." DOMA (1) allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages or partnerships and (2) limits the recognition of these same-sex partnerships for purposes of any act of Congress or by any federal bureau or agency. As codified, DOMA has three sections. The first provides the bill's name, the second section allows states to determine whether to recognize same-sex marriage, and the third defines the terms marriage and spouse for the purposes of federal enactments. Specifically, Section 3 of DOMA says the following: In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word "marriage" means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word "spouse" refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. The federal government provides a variety of benefits to its workforce, including health care, life insurance, pensions, and paid time off for vacation and sick leave. Federal employees are permitted by law to extend certain health, long-term care, and other benefits to their spouses. DOMA prohibits the distribution of these spousal benefits to same-sex partners. The federal government, however, provides other benefits to federal employees that may be extended to those who are associated with a federal employee, but who are not necessarily the employee's spouse. In some cases, these benefits have been extended to the partners of federal employees who are in same-sex relationships. On June 17, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum directing executive agencies to examine ways to extend benefits to federal employees in same-sex domestic partnerships or same-sex marriages within the authority of existing law. On July 10, 2009, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry issued a memorandum directing all executive-branch agencies to review and report on the benefits offered to opposite-sex partners—whether married or not—of federal employees. OPM and the Department of Justice (DOJ) reviewed these reports and suggested to President Obama actions that would extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. On June 2, 2010, President Obama released a second memorandum that extended specific benefits and perquisites to the same-sex partners of federal employees. For certain benefits, the term spouse is either not found in the benefit's authorizing language or the authorizing language widens the scope of eligibility. The benefits that were extended by the memorandum are those whose authorizing statutes do not use the term spouse to define or limit potential recipients of the benefit. The Administration argues that its actions comply with all federal laws, including DOMA. Among other benefits, the memorandum extended certain childcare and sick leave benefits that had previously only been available to opposite-sex spouses—including the authority to take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave when a same-sex partner or a partner's child is ill. The newly extended benefits were made available upon the second memorandum's release. In the 112 th Congress, two bills were introduced that, if enacted, would have permitted a federal employee to provide insurance, travel, and other benefits to his or her same-sex partner. On November 18, 2011, Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced S. 1910 , the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2011, and Representative Tammy Baldwin introduced a companion bill, H.R. 3485 . On May 16, 2012, S. 1910 was ordered to be reported favorably from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. H.R. 3485 was referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, the House Education and the Workforce's Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law, and the Committee on House Administration. No further action was taken on the bill. Congress may elect to examine, prohibit, or enact into law Administration initiatives that made some benefits available to same-sex partners. Congress has the authority to determine if some, all, or none of the benefits that are available to the opposite-sex spouses of federal employees should be made available to the same-sex partners of federal employees. The federal government provides a variety of benefits to federal civilian and military employees and retirees. Among these benefits are health insurance; enhanced dental and vision benefits; retirement and disability benefits and plans; survivor benefits; family, medical, and emergency leave; and reimbursement of relocation costs. Various federal laws and regulations determine who is eligible to receive these benefits. A federal employee who is married to someone of the opposite gender can, pursuant to federal law, extend many of these benefits to his or her spouse. DOMA affects the application of benefits to the spouses and partners of federal employees. DOMA defines marriage explicitly as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife." DOMA defines spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Pursuant to DOMA, these definitions are to be used when "determining the meaning of any Act of Congress." As such, DOMA prohibits the extension of any federal spousal benefit to the same-sex partners of federal employees. In addition, specific laws or regulations, like the regulations for the Family Medical Leave Act, explicitly define spouse as a member of the opposite sex. Report language from the House Committee on the Judiciary in support of H.R. 3396 (104 th Congress; later enacted as DOMA) stated in its introduction that DOMA sought to protect states' rights to determine whether same-sex couples could marry and be eligible for benefits. DOMA, the report argued, anticipated certain legal questions that could arise from this arrangement. The report said the following: With regard to federal law, a decision by one State to authorize same-sex "marriage" would raise the issue of whether such couples are entitled to federal benefits that depend on marital status. H.R. 3396 anticipates these complicated questions by laying down clear rules to guide their resolution, and it does so in a manner that preserves each State's ability to decide the underlying policy issue however it chooses. According to report language, the federal government had four specific interests in mind when drafting DOMA: defending and nurturing the institution of traditional, heterosexual marriage; defending traditional notions of morality; protecting state sovereignty and democratic self-governance; and preserving scarce government resources. The latter governmental interest was described in greater detail later in the report: Government currently provides an array of material and other benefits to married couples in an effort to promote, protect, and prefer the institution of marriage. While the Committee has not undertaken an exhaustive examination of those benefits, it is clear that they do impose certain fiscal obligations on the federal government. For example, survivorship benefits paid to the surviving spouse of a veteran of the Armed Services plainly cost the federal government money. If Hawaii (or some other State) were to permit homosexuals to "marry," these marital benefits would, absent some legislative response, presumably have to be made available to homosexual couples and surviving spouses of homosexual "marriages" on the same terms as they are now available to opposite-sex married couples and spouses. To deny federal recognition to same-sex "marriages" will thus preserve scarce government resources, surely a legitimate government purpose. Some benefits to federal employees are extended specifically to the spouse of the federal employee, while the laws and regulations governing other benefits may not explicitly use the term spouse. The Obama Administration has extended to the same-sex partners of federal employees some benefits that do not have the term spouse in their governing authorities. The Administration has argued that they have done so within the parameters of DOMA. Some organizations, however, including the non-profit Family Research Council, have argued that the extension of these benefits is both costly and could undermine the federal definition of marriage. President Obama has issued two memoranda that address the eligibility of same-sex domestic partners for federal employee benefits. The first memorandum directed agencies to determine which benefits could be offered within the parameters of existing law. The second memorandum required agencies to extend specific benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees. On June 17, 2009, President Obama released a memorandum directing all executive departments and agencies to review and evaluate their existing employee benefits to determine "which may legally be extended to same-sex partners." In his public statement accompanying the memorandum's release, he said that his Administration "was not authorized by existing Federal law to provide same-sex couples with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples." The President said many private companies already offer such benefits to same-sex domestic partners, which "helps them compete for and retain the brightest and most talented employees. The Federal Government is at a disadvantage on that score right now, and change is long overdue." The memorandum required each executive department and agency to provide to the Director of OPM a report that included "a review of the benefits provided by their respective departments and agencies" in order "to determine what authority they have to extend such benefits to same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees." Agencies were given 90 days to complete their reviews. In addition, the memorandum instructed OPM to issue guidance regarding compliance with anti-discrimination policies in the hiring of federal employees (5 U.S.C. §2302(b)(10)). The memorandum was explicit in stating that all extensions of benefits and protections be "consistent with Federal law." No extension of benefits, therefore, could violate DOMA or any other law prohibiting the extension of benefits to same-sex domestic partners. The agency reports were due on September 15, 2009. OPM reviewed these reports and worked with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to recommend the extension of several federal benefits to the partners of federal employees in same-sex relationships.