The bill, called the Federal Marriage Amendment, is quite short:

Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.

Last week, the Supreme Court held that Section 3 of DOMA, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of receiving federal benefits, is unconstitutional.

Though there's no chance that Huelskamp's legislation will become law, 28 Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors to it, mostly unsurprising conservatives like Paul Broun, Ga., Trent Franks, Ariz., Louie Gohmert, Texas, Ralph Hall, Texas, Jim Jordan, Ohio, and Steve Stockman, Texas.

The Huffington Post reports:

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"I agree with thousands of Kentuckians, that Kentucky is tired of 28 years of obstruction," she said, adding: "Kentucky is tired of a senior Senator that has lost touch with Kentucky issues, voters and their values."

Grimes could prove a formidable opponent for McConnell: A May poll from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found that McConnell and Grimes were neck-and-neck at 45 percent. McConnell, in general, is facing some tough poll numbers: The same survey found that 47 percent of voters disapprove of him, with only 44 percent approving.

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From the study:

[I]n 2011 and 2012, Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, the lobbying arm of Koch Industries, advocated for the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have rolled back the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could regulate greenhouse gases. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and co-signed by 92 Republicans (and three Democrats), 61 of whom signed an anti-climate tax “pledge.” An economist with the American Council for Capital Formation — a nonprofit group that receives Koch money — testified about that same bill before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Margo Thorning told members of the House in February 2011 that regulation of greenhouse gas emissions “makes little economic or environmental sense,” according to her testimony.

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"The fact that they didn't even pursue accessing the private e-mails is very disturbing to me," Speier said of the Pentagon's inspector general report on the matter, in an interview with USA Today. "Because it would suggest that it was an incomplete investigation at the very least. At the worst: [they were] intentionally not pursuing an investigation into whether or not there was an inappropriate relationship, secrecy, national-security breaches. Classified information."

The emails in question were the  thousands of exchanges between Gen. Allen and Kelley. Kelley was pulled into the spotlight when she complained to the FBI about harassing emails, eventually revealed to have been sent by David Petraeus' biographer Paula Broadwell, which eventually led to revelations that Petraeus and Broadwell were having an affair.

From USA Today:

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Bush was speaking with CNN in an interview from Zambia, and said that there "needs to be a balance" between privacy and security, "and as the president explained, there is a proper balance."

Bush was asked about the NSA's phone and Internet surveillance program specifically, and replied: "I put that program in place to protect the country. One of the certainties was that civil liberties were guaranteed."

He also commented on Edward Snowden, who first leaked information on the program to the press. "I think he damaged the security of the country," Bush said.

Watch:

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Politicker NY reports:

“We love Weiner and you can quote me on that!” shouted 25-year-old Justin Curtis after Mr. Weiner passed, flanked by a slew of supporters who followed in his footsteps, holding a “Weiner!” sign that stretched the length of the street itself.

“You guys know that’s my name right?” Mr. Weiner offered at one point. “We’re not just saying that.”

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From Politico:

The Congressional Budget Office, which judges the budgetary impact of all legislation, says “Depending on the number of additional births under H.R. 1797, such Medicaid costs could range from about $75 million over the next 10 years to more than $400 million over that period.”

CBO officially estimates that the bill increases federal deficits by $75 million between 2014 and 2018, and $225 million between 2014 and 2023.

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Lopez's publicist said that the event was not political, and was sponsored by the China National Petroleum Corp., and "Had there been knowledge of human rights issues any kind, Jennifer would not have attended," the Associated Press reports.

According to the State Department's latest report on human rights in Turkmenistan, "security officials tortured and beat criminal suspects, prisoners, and individuals deemed critical of the government to extract confessions and as a form of punishment."

"Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy and a presidential republic, the country has an authoritarian government controlled by the president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov," the report says.

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Davis also accused Republican politicians in the state of using the legislation for political gain. “Politicians are using this issue to boost their own political aspirations, their own political ambitions, and they are bullying women and their liberties, their personal, constitutionally guaranteed liberties in the process,” she said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Davis's filibuster prevented the legislation, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks, from passing the legislature last week. But Gov. Rick Perry has called a special session, which begins on Monday, in order to get it passed. This time, the bill is expected to make it through.

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On Friday, the Ninth Circuit lifted its injunction against same-sex marriages, which had been put in place pending a Supreme Court ruling on the legal challenge to Proposition 8. Last week, the Supreme Court held that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the case on the merits, as the supporters of the measure, which banned same-sex marriage in California, did not have standing to appeal a District Court ruling that the law was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's decision vacated the Ninth Circuit's ruling, meaning that the only barrier to same-sex marriage in the state was the injunction.

Since the Ninth Circuit's decision, same-sex couples have already begun marrying in the state. But supporters of Proposition 8 argued that the injunction could not be lifted until the Supreme Court decision was finalized, which occurs 25 days after a decision is handed down.

Kennedy had dissented from the majority opinion on the ruling, which was written by Chief Justice John Roberts.

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"I believe that the members of Congress, many more than are directly affected themselves by the number of Hispanics in their district, will do what is right for our country,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. “And it’s certainly right, for the Republicans, if they ever want to win a presidential race.”

The immigration reform measure that passed out of the Senate last week is currently under consideration by the House, where it is unpopular among conservative Republicans. Republican leadership has indicated that they may not pass the full Senate version, but could pass legislation piecemeal instead.

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Here's what Friedman wrote:

A second factor is the way middle-class workers are being squeezed between a shrinking welfare state and a much more demanding job market. For so many years, workers were told that if you just work hard and play by the rules you’ll be in the middle class. That is just not true anymore. In this age of rapid globalization and automation, you have to work harder, work smarter, bring more innovation to whatever job you do, retool yourself more often — and then you can be in the middle class. There is just so much more stress on people in, or aspiring to be in, the middle class, and many more young people wondering how they’ll ever do better than their parents.

Too few leaders are leveling with their people about this shift, let alone helping them navigate it. And too many big political parties today are just vehicles for different coalitions to defend themselves against change rather than to lead their societies in adapting to it. Normally, this would create opportunities for the opposition parties, but in places like Turkey, Brazil, Russia and Egypt the formal opposition is feckless. So people take to the streets, forming their own opposition.

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“Our goal is to have marriage equality, that is guaranteed by the United States constitution, enforced in every single state in the Union,” Boies said on CNN's State of the Union.

“There isn't any state we're giving up on,” he added.

From CNN:

Boies argued Sunday that the decision made by the Supreme Court can be applied on a national scale, rather than just California. Earlier this week, he told CNN’s Gloria Borger that proponents of same-sex marriage plan to get marriage equality in all 50 states within the next five years. Currently, 13 states plus the District of Columbia approve same-sex marriage.

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“We are manufacturing the right to redefine marriage,” Eastman said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added: “That’s judicial tyranny, not the kind of system we have.”

Watch, via Mediaite:

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“I’ll be honest here. In the past two years, we’ve done a pretty lousy job of connecting in the Latino community," Priebus said, speaking at an event in Chicago for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the Chicago Tribune reports. "We’ve missed out on opportunities to build better relationships. But that’s going to change."

“I didn’t come here to convert you,” he added. “I hope that it’s clear that we want to earn your trust and your vote.”

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Reuters reports:

In their application asking the Supreme Court to overrule the 9th Circuit and reinstate the gay marriage ban, opponents argued the appeals court had jumped the gun in lifting its stay.

The Arizona-based group Alliance Defending Freedom argued that the 9th Circuit lacked authority to act when it did, and that it violated the terms of its own stay requiring the ruling remain in place "until final disposition by the Supreme Court."

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"Once you move marriage beyond the scope of a man and a woman, you really don't end up with a good place to put a limit," Gohmert, R-Texas, said, adding: "I think polygamy is wrong, bigamy is wrong, and it's a crime in many places -- but how will that be justifiable now that the court has removed this? There's some [who] believe polygamy is a way to go."

h/t the Huffington Post.

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Speaking on the conservative radio show The Steve Deace Show, Huelskamp, a Republican from Kansas, accused the Court of trying to “rewrite the Constitution” and “ramming their views down the throats of Americans.”

“If you read these decisions together," he continued, referring to both the Prop 8 and DOMA decisions (with majority opinions written by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, respectively), "[it's] twisted logic, tortured the Constitution, I can’t even stand to read the decisions because I don’t even think they’d pass law school with decisions like that.”

Huelskamp is currently pushing the Federal Marriage Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would restore the effects of DOMA by defining marriage as between a man and a woman. In a 5-4 decision on Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the section of DOMA that did the same is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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The Star-Ledger reports:

The Senate approved the bill (A3371), 28-9; the Assembly passed it Monday. It now heads to the governor's desk for consideration.

Gov. Chris Christie has publicly stated his opposition to conversion therapy, so supporters are hopeful he will sign it into law. Opponents say the bill violates the rights of parents to make decisions for their children.

If Christie signs the bill into law, New Jersey will become the second state to ban the practice, after California.

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Michigan Live reports:

The decision from U.S. District Judge David S. Lawson grants an injunction which prevents Gov. Rick Snyder and state officials from enforcing the 2011 law prohibiting cities, counties and other public employers from offering benefits to same-sex domestic partners.

A group of five same-sex couples had filed suit against Snyder and the state alleging the law violated the U.S. Constitution by violating due process and equal protection rights. Attorneys for the state had argued the couples lacked standing to bring the suit and had not suffered an identifiable injury as a result of the law.

"It is hard to argue with a straight face that the primary purpose -- indeed, perhaps the sole purpose -- of the statute is other than to deny health benefits to the same-sex partners of public employees," Lawson said, the Associated Press reports. "But that can never be a legitimate governmental purpose."

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