“After the election,” he said, when asked when the bill would be tabled.
Baldwin said earlier this week that she wanted the legislation to come to the floor next week, even though she wasn’t certain she would have enough votes to overcome an expected GOP filibuster.
Baldwin’s announcement came shortly after the departure of Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a key vote-getter, who said the bill would be much more likely to garner 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster if it were considered after the day elections.
“If I wanted to vote on it and I was the majority leader and I wanted to get as many votes as I could, I would wait until after the election to have the vote,” Blunt told reporters.
A bipartisan group of negotiators met Thursday morning to decide whether to release the text of an amendment intended to address concerns from GOP lawmakers who feared the legislation could put churches and other religious institutions in legal jeopardy if Congress voted the codification – sex marriage rights.
Legislation passed by the House would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and require states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Jennifer Griffin signs new multi-year deal with Fox News Bloomberg launches database targeting racial economic gap
The Supreme Court defended the right to same-sex marriage in the landmark 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled that the 14th Amendment protects the right of same-sex couples to marry.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to reconsider that decision and others based on the concept of substantive due process under the 14th Amendment in a concurring opinion in Dobbs v. , earlier this year.
The House overwhelmingly approved the Respect for Marriage Act by a vote of 267 to 157, with 47 Republicans voting yes.
