Late Tuesday, the U.S. House passed a bill into law that could codify same-sex marriage into law.
47 Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the Respect for Marriage Act which seeks to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and provide federal protections for homosexual couples and interracial marriages.
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act was passed with bipartisan support and defined marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” The act also defined a spouse as “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”
Various Republicans criticized the bill. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) said the Democrats were pushing the bill to avoid focusing on serious issues affecting the country currently: “At a time when inflation is at 9.1% and the southern border is in a full-blown crisis, Democrats in Congress are wasting time on a bill about marriage. Is that really the most pressing issue facing our country? How about we focus on things that matter, like lowering gas costs rather than voting on pointless bills that only score political points?”
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) voted against the bill, saying, “it was a political game by Democrats.”
Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) voted against the bill, explaining how he believes it contrasted “God’s definition of marriage.” Good said “I’m a biblical conservative, I believe in God’s definition of marriage. And, you know, God’s perfect design is one man for one woman for a lifetime.”
Good added that he thinks the SCOTUS never “should have tried to make law on that issue.”
Only one Texas representative voted in favor of the bill. Zero Arizona reps voted “yay” on the bill.
For the bill to pass into law, 10 Republican Senators need to vote in favor of it.
GOP Senators have made various comments regarding the bill. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) expressed his intentions to vote against the bill, calling it a “stupid waste of time.”
Sen. Josh Hawley said he wants marriage to be up to the states and how he believes same-sex marriages is not defined in the Constitution. “I don’t think there is any constitutional basis for the Supreme Court to say ‘this is what the definition of marriage is according to the Constitution. I don’t think the Constitution has marriage in it.'”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made comments on Sunday where he suggested same-sex “marriage” legislation should be left up to the states. “I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching,” the Senator said on his podcast, which was published Sunday.
“Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation’s history. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states. We saw states before Obergefell, some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. There were different standards that the states were adopting,” Cruz added.
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Controversial Republican Sen. Mitt Romney also hinted he would vote “no” on the bill, calling it “unnecessary.” Rep. Lindsey Graham affirmed he would vote against the bill.
As of Wednesday, only four Republican Senators have vocally and publicly expressed plans to vote in favor of the bill.
As of today, only 4 Republicans expressed support/openness for codifying protections for gay marriage: Collins, Portman, Murkowski, Tillis.
6 short needed to break a filibuster.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) July 20, 2022
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
