WASHINGTON (AP) - The Defense Department is not extending some housing benefits to same-sex partners of service members even though it legally could because the issue requires more review and military leaders expressed concerns, senior Pentagon officials said Monday.
A new department memo detailed a number of other benefits that will be extended to same-sex partners, including identification cards that will provide access to commissaries and other services. But Pentagon officials said that while some housing payments and health care benefits can't be included because of federal law, some access to base housing is not specifically prohibited and could be offered in the future.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is giving the military services until Oct. 1 to put the changes into effect and provide 22 benefits to same-sex partners, but he said they should make every effort to get it done by Aug. 31
Two senior Pentagon officials explained the changes and the legal arguments behind the decisions on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.
In his memo to the military services, Panetta said that housing, burials - such as those at Arlington National Cemetery - and some benefits related to overseas deployments "present complex legal and policy challenges" but will remain under review. A key stumbling block is the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing any marriage other than that between a man and a woman.
According to a senior legal official, the department cannot extend any benefits that, by law, are limited to "spouse" because of the DOMA restrictions.
Service members get payment allowances for off-base housing, with singles getting a specific amount and married couples getting a bit more. Same-sex couples could not legally receive the higher off-base funding that a married couple could get because of DOMA's marriage definition.
But same-sex couples are not legally prohibited from qualifying for on-base housing. Pentagon officials said that issue requires more review because there were some concerns about following the "spirit of the law" outlined in DOMA. And they said that service chiefs were concerned about fairness and the reaction of other military members, including the possibility that married couples might be bumped from a housing list by a same-sex couple.
Among the nearly two dozen benefits now available to same-sex partners, the identification card is likely the most important.
Officials said the card will look largely the same as the service members' but will have the designation "DP" - for domestic partner - and will list the types of benefits it allows on the back. Spouses and dependents of service members have similar cards, but those include designations for healthcare benefits.
Other benefits now available to same-sex partners and families include family programs, travel on military aircraft when available, child care, legal assistance, and if both are in the military they would be able to request, and be considered for, duty assignments in the same area.