Obama to Extend Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees

Obama plans to announce his decision on Wednesday in the Oval Office, the official said. Since the president hasn't yet signed the presidential memorandum, the official asked for anonymity, adding that Obama would release more details on Wednesday.

Richard Socarides, an adviser to the Clinton administration on gay issues, said:

“Extending benefits to partners of gay federal employees is terrific, but at this point he is under enormous pressure from the gay civil rights community for having promised the moon and done nothing so far. So more important now is what he says tomorrow about the future for gay people during his presidency.”

The president's appeal to gay rights activists has been dropping. He hasn't following through on some campaign promises. For example, the Obama administration's reluctance to take another look at the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay service members has been a sore point among some activists. During his campaign, Obama promised during the campaign to repeal it.

Word of Obama's plan leaked out only a day after he received a letter from Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign protesting a legal brief his administration wrote. The brief supported the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

“As an American, a civil rights advocate, and a human being, I hold this administration to a higher standard than this brief. In the course of your campaign, I became convinced — and I still want to believe — that you do, too.”