(Charles Dharapak / AP Photo)
As you may recall, Paul Clement was the man chosen by House Republican leadership to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court to the tune of millions of dollars. And not to toot my own horn, but his failure was seen coming as long ago as January.
The arguments he presented in court were so bad they could have been misconstrued as an argument for gay marriage. And for his troubles, House Republicans increased the amount money available to him three separate times.
Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress pegs the final cost at $2.3 million, but what’s really remarkable is that this is not the first, or even the second, very high profile case that Clement failed to win recently.
Paul Clement was also hired by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to litigate NFIB vs Sebelius, the case which decided the fate of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He also failed to defend key sections of Arizona’s “Papers Please” anti-immigration law, SB1070, on behalf of Governor Jan Brewer.
He’s 0 for 3.
But reality being what it is, I’m sure his losing streak won’t prevent him from being hired to litigate more high profile cases. And perhaps we should hope that it doesn’t.
You’re doing great.