Senate negotiators who are working on a bill to codify the protections for marriage equality have expressed optimism that the legislation will be passed by the end this month.
The Respect for Marriage Act was adopted earlier in the summerIn the House of Representatives, 47 Republicans voted for it. The Senate faces more obstacles, however. It needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster and it can be passed.
President Joe Biden said that if the bill passes in the Senate, he would be happy to sign it. he will sign it into law.
Some Republicans expressed willingness to support the bill.Even if the majority of their caucus won’t, they can still get their votes. However, Senate negotiators believe that there is a growing chance that they will be able to secure the votes from 10 GOP senators. This number has not yet been reached.
“We’re not there yet. I think we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet,” a GOP source said to The Hill.
Negotiators are preparing to bring the bill to the Senate for consideration as soon as next week. This could lead to the bill being passed before September ends.
Chuck Schumer (D, New York) is the Senate Majority Leader announced on Wednesday that the bill will come to the Senate floor sometime in the “coming weeks.” Previously, Schumer was not committedA timeline for the introduction of the legislation.
Schumer also disparaged Republican lawmakers such as Sens. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) and Marco Rubio (Florida), who have suggested that the vote is a political move ahead of the midterms and called it a “waste of time.”
“Let’s remember why a vote on the Respect for Marriage [Act] is necessary,” Schumer said, according to ABC News. “Millions upon millions of American women had their right taken away by the extremist MAGA Supreme Court in the Dobbs decision. Justice [Clarence] Thomas opened the door for the Supreme Court going even further.”
Schumer’s comments refer to Thomas’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson,The Supreme Court decision earlier this year that dissolved the abortion rights protections that had been established in was issued by the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade This opinion is: Thomas stated that privacy rights are the basis of rulings. RoeShould be reexamined.
Thomas explicitly stated that the Supreme Court should relitigate Obergefell v. HodgesThe 2015 ruling that confirmed marriage equality rights.
Democrats in the House responded by passing legislation that codifies rights. abortion, Birth controland marriage for same-sex couples. These measures were blocked by the Senate.
In order to court Republicans who are on the fence about the marriage equality bill, Democrats have included an amendment on “religious freedom” that, depending on the final text of the bill, could be utilized by states to allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), the lead sponsor of the bill and the first openly lesbian senator in U.S. history, tried to assure those worried about the possible amendment by noting that it would merely preserve “all existing precedent” when it comes to how religious groups or private businesses can treat LGBTQ people, according to The Dispatch editor Haley Byrd Wilt.
