Topline
The Senate will wait until after the November elections before voting on a bill to protect same-sex marriage nationwide, as Democrats struggle to win over Republican support, lawmakers told multiple news outlets Thursday, delaying legislation Democrats have pushed for since the reversal of Roe v. Wade prompted fears that marriage protections could also be in jeopardy.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) speaks at a press conference on May 5.
Key Facts
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) told CNN she’s “very confident that the bill will pass, but we will need a little more time” before bringing the Respect for Marriage Act to the floor.
Baldwin and the bill’s other sponsors didn’t specify when they expect a vote to take place, but said in a statement they’ve asked “for additional time.”
Democrats were previously optimistic a vote could come within weeks, but Baldwin said Wednesday negotiators were struggling to get 10 Republicans to side with all 50 Democrats on procedural votes, which is necessary under the Senate’s filibuster rules.
In recent weeks, senators from both parties have tried to win GOP support for the bill by promising to specify “the legislation would not take away any religious liberty or conscience protections,” Baldwin told Axios last month.
An earlier version of the Respect for Marriage Act passed the House in a bipartisan 267-157 vote in July, with dozens of Republicans voting alongside Democrats.
What We Don’t Know
It’s unclear how many Senate Republicans are already on board with the bill and which lawmakers will end up voting for it. Baldwin told CNN earlier this week “just shy of ten” Republicans supported the original legislation, and a “clarifying amendment” covering religious liberty could boost it above the ten-senator mark. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Rob Portman (Ohio) were early backers of the bill, signing on as cosponsors, while Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) has also expressed support and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) appeared open to the legislation. Meanwhile, Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Mitt Romney (Utah) have been less committal, with Johnson telling reporters in July he sees “no reason to oppose it” before later saying he couldn’t support the bill in its current form.
Key Background
The Respect for Marriage Act would require states to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that prevented same-sex couples from accessing federal benefits offered to other married couples. The federal government and all 50 states are already required to recognize same-sex marriages due to 2013 and 2015 Supreme Court rulings, but many advocates worry those rulings could be on unstable footing due to the court’s rightward lurch. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, allowing states to outlaw abortion for the first time in 49 years, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas penned a concurring opinion arguing that the court should also reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges (which extended same-sex marriage rights to every state) and Griswold v. Connecticut (which protected married couples’ right to use contraceptives). In the court’s majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito insisted the ruling only applies to abortion rights.
Tangent
Senate Democrats have also responded to Roe v. Wade’s reversal by pushing to codify abortion rights into federal law, but that effort faces considerable roadblocks in a Senate divided 50-50 between the two parties. Collins and Murkowski introduced a bill to codify Roe, but no other Republicans have publicly backed the idea, and many Democrats have pushed for legislation that would broaden abortion rights beyond the Roe standard.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/09/15/same-sex-marriage-bill-delayed-until-after-midterms-amid-uncertain-gop-support/