By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer For the first time in an official court filing, the Justice Department under President Barack Obama has revealed it's belief that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is discriminatory and supports its repeal. According to the Washington Post, the Justice Department filed a response yesterday in Smelt v. United States, a case before a U.S. District Court in California, which makes clear that the Obama Administration “does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal.” However, even while the administration urges repeal of the law in court papers, government lawyers are continuing to defend it because it is a law on the books. "The administration believes the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed," Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler told the Associated Press, because it prevents equal rights and benefits.   But, she added, the Justice Department is obligated "to defend federal statutes when they are challenged in court. The Justice Department cannot pick and choose which federal laws it will defend based on any one administration's policy preferences."   However, the Administration’s duplicity is already garnering criticism. Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values says the president is playing dishonest “Chicago style politics” by defending DOMA publicly while undermining the law in a court filing. "What the White House wants is for a court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act so that the White House and the president don't have to take the political damage for undermining a law that protects normal marriage," he told OneNewsNow.com.   Bauer also accuses Obama of contradicting a campaign pledge. "President Obama ran promising he would be open and transparent, and no longer practice the usual politics of Washington, DC. Millions of people voted for him because they thought he would be more honest and more open in the way he governed." But this is clearly not what is happening, Bauer says. "What we're seeing here is something more reminiscent of the way they do politics in the wards of Chicago -- saying one thing and then doing something else behind the scenes."   If the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned by White House maneuvering or a federal court, every state would be forced to recognize same-sex "marriages" that are now legal in states like Massachusetts. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com