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Led by GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, 23 anti-gay members are the U.S. House are seeking to thwart the certification of the repeal of DADT. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

The GOP letter to Obama states Congress should have the opportunity to review the new regulations before the president and defense leaders give the OK for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. “Merely providing ‘training and educational’ briefs to our service members is not enough to justify moving forward with certification when consequential policy and regulatory changes associated with implementation must be reviewed by Congress under its oversight function,” the letter states. “Until those policy changes have been delivered and reviewed by Congress, it would be irresponsible to proceed with the certification process.” Additionally, the letter states that certification at this time would be premature because of “apparent confusion” at the Defense Department in creating new policies for open service.

And even on the worst day of his life, he had to endure more heckling from that douchebag from the Howard Stern show.

Clip description: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) regarding the $500,000 contracted by the Office of the General Counsel for the defense of the Defense of Marriage Act."

Before being elected to Congress, Hartzler headed the Coalition to Protect Marriage in Missouri, which in 2004 backed the successful campaign to install a statewide constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Demagoguing: "Obtaining power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace." Uh, yeah. Who does that actually sound like?

Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul, who supports same-sex marriage and the repeal of DADT, last night won the special election to replace Rep. Chris Lee (R), who resigned earlier this year after being exposed for cruising Craigslist for women other than his wife. The election largely turned on the GOP's campaign to dismantle Medicare.

“Today, the Republican plan to end Medicare cost Republicans $3.4 million and a seat in Congress,” said Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “And this is only the first seat.” Even before voters went to the polls Tuesday, Republicans played down the significance of the race and particularly its relevance to the debate about Medicare’s future. “I know this town loves to take signals from individual races. I think the best signal you can take is the 63 seats that we picked up in November,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) told reporters Monday.

The GOP loser, Jane Corwin, had been supported by NOM.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received 26 standing ovations during his speech to Congress today. Including when he got heckled.

"I was pleased when the Financial Services Committee overwhelmingly, in a bipartisan way, voted in favor of my amendment urging the Secretary of the Treasury to oppose any financial assistance from multilateral development institutions to countries that persecute people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or religious beliefs. In the discussion of the amendment I offered, I specifically mentioned the deeply troubling case of Uganda, which is now considering legislation to legally deprive people of these basic human rights. If the bill before the Ugandan parliament becomes law, it must be the policy of the United States government to oppose any aid to Uganda from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, or any other international financial institution of which we are a member." - Rep. Barney Frank, via press release.

Sam Seder rants about Monday's offer by the Tea Party to end their opposition to a rise in the debt ceiling if Congress will block the repeal of DADT.

Towleroad tips us to the latest issue of Men's Health, which features GOP Rep. Aaron Schock (IL) showing off his famed bod. At age 29, Schock is the youngest member of Congress. We last took note of Rep. Schock for the famously gay-looking outfit he wore to a White House picnic last summer.

New York Assemblywoman Jane Corwin is the GOP's pick to replace Rep. Chris "Craigslist" Lee, who resigned from Congress earlier this year after Gawker exposed his online search for women other than his wife. And somebody has had a bit of fun with a fake Corwin campaign site, which will give you a few laughs. The special election is May 24th.

(Tipped by JMG reader Brian)

Via Igor Volsky at Wonk Room comes the below clip of Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) telling Attorney General Eric Holder that prohibitions against same-sex marriage are just as valid as bans on incest and polygamy. The GOP really has nothing new to say, do they?