It’s not a surprise, but it is news: House Speaker John Boehner and his colleagues in the Republican leadership have given the go-ahead for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of preserving the Defense of Marriage Act –DOMA.

A First Circuit appeals court in May struck down the core provision of DOMA –a ban on any federal recognition of legitimately married same-sex couples. That was the first time a federal appeals court had weighed in on the law.

Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy voted to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court. The three make up a majority of the five-member Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which has the authority to approve legal action on behalf of the House. The Group, which includes the top two House Democratic leaders, voted 3 to 2 to hire an outside attorney to defend DOMA in February 2011 after the Obama administration announced it could not argue in court that the law is constitutional.

The appeal was anticipated and lawyers on both sides will now begin submitting briefs. The high court could announce as soon as October whether it will accept the appeal.