Same-sex spouses to receive veteran's benefits, photo by Mario Tama via Getty Images

Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to congressional leaders explaining that “the unique circumstances presented here warrant non-enforcement [of federal laws],” that previously only granted the rights of healthcare and survivor benefits to heterosexual couples. 

Civil Rights groups view this as another step towards actualization of the right to same-sex marriage, as obtained with the rejection of DOMA this June. 

“The continued unwinding of discrimination against legally married couples in the aftermath of the Windsor decision is a welcome development,” James Esseks, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, told the Washington Post. “The federal government is right to ensure that legally married couples, where a spouse has served valiantly in the military, are treated equally.”

The extension of veterans benefits, however, will not apply to same-sex couples living in any of the 37 states where same-sex marriages are not currently recognized. 

The new legislation becomes even more interesting when considering the wider implications that it may have for the future of marriage benefits. 

Just last week, though, the International Revenue Service extended the right to file federal taxes jointly to same-sex spouses. 

Soon the federal agenda of rewriting the guidelines pertaining to the legal benefits of marriage, could include the extension of Social Security benefits to same-sex spouses as well. 

Contact Executive Producer Sara Newman here and follow her on Twitter.