It was interesting that Kansas’ two U.S. senators and three of its four members of the U.S. House did not release official statements about the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, considering that in the past they have weighed in on big court decisions. Nor did Gov. Sam Brownback issue a statement Wednesday, and Attorney General Derek Schmidt did not respond to the Lawrence Journal-World’s repeated requests for comment about the impacts of the decision in Kansas. That left Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, to speak to and, some might assume, for Kansans in condemning the rulings and announcing his push to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. But former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now in President Obama’s Cabinet, tweeted: “Decision on #DOMA reaffirms the core belief that we are all created equal and must be treated as equal; victory for families, #equality.”
UPDATE: Late Thursday afternoon Pompeo’s office called our attention to a statement posted on his website during the day: “The court’s attack on marriage – as defined as between one man and one woman – is both sad and counter to the most profound tradition of our great nation. As an attorney and a conservative, I am confounded by the Supreme Court’s bizarre set of decisions that found DOMA unconstitutional and didn’t rule on the merits of Prop 8. The Supreme Court has taken the position of refusing the right of Congress to legislate federal law based on the will of the people. This is a travesty. I remain dedicated to strengthening the institution of traditional marriage.” In addition, when asked about the decisions Thursday, Brownback said he was reviewing them before making a statement, according to the Lawrence Journal-World’s Scott Rothschild.