House Republican support for same-sex marriage bill shrinks despite religious liberty amendment
Virginia Aabram
Ten House Republicans who voted “yes” on the Respect for Marriage Act when it initially passed the lower chamber over the summer did not support the amended version Thursday.
Seven GOP lawmakers who first supported the bill changed their votes from “yes” to “no,” while two did not vote and one voted present on the Senate-amended version of the legislation that the House first passed in July. The total amount of GOP support decreased from 47 votes in July to 39 votes Thursday, as two Republicans changed from “no” to “yes” votes.
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HOUSE PASSES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL, SENDING LEGISLATION TO BIDEN’S DESK
The seven yea-to-nay members were Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ). Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) voted “present” instead of “yes” as he did in July, while Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) voted “yes” initially but did not vote on Thursday. Two Republican lawmakers, Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), were the two nay-to-yea votes.
Kinzinger reportedly intended to vote “yes” on the bill, but the member he designated to cast his vote by proxy did not do so.
The Respect for Marriage Act passed 268-159 in the House after the Senate passed a version last week with a religious liberty amendment that swayed 12 Republican senators to back it. Despite the addition of the amendment meant to bring Republicans on board, it passed with weaker margins in the House in its second vote.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested that the shift was due to concerns about optics ahead of the midterm elections at a Thursday press conference.
“What was really curious is that there were eight people who voted for it in its first form that was sent over to the Senate. What came back was more in their direction and was not as strong as our original bill — although it’s strong, but wasn’t as strong as what we had,” Pelosi said. “And you wonder why, before the election, they voted for it. Did they see that to be to their advantage? And after the election, they voted against it.”
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The legislation ensures that same-sex and interracial unions would remain legal if the Supreme Court overturned the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges or the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decisions that made gay marriage and interracial marriage legal nationwide. It also nullifies the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that said marriage was between one man and one woman.
The legislation will now head to President Joe Biden’s desk, and he is anticipated to sign it into law.