Josh Gerstein, who writes for Politico on the courts and transparency, reports:

Early in a House budget hearing Tuesday, Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) casually asked Attorney General Eric Holder how much money the department would save by not defending several lawsuits and appeals challenging the law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

"I'm not sure we save any money, frankly," Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee. "The people who would be defending the statute, were we to do that, are career employees of the Department of Justice...I'm not sure I see any savings."

The import of Bonner's query wasn't entirely clear until later in the hearing when Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio) indicated that the House might try to take that money to pay for lawyers to take up where the Justice Department is leaving off. (source)