Senate Democrats Punt Same-Sex Marriage Bill Until After Midterm Elections

Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seen in the basement of the US Capitol prior to a Senate Democratic Policy Luncheon in January 2018 in Washington, DC.

Many Republican strategists were worried that sinking a bill enshrining same-sex marriage protections would result in a devastating blow on Election Day.

Senate Democrats, once set to force their GOP counterparts to vote on a bill protecting same-sex marriage ahead of the midterm election, won’t bring the proposal to the floor until after Election Day.

“I’m still very confident that the bill will pass, but we will be taking the bill up later, after the election,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democrat, told reporters on Thursday.

The delay will allow Democrats – and a handful of Republicans already committed to supporting the bill – to shop around language related to protecting religious freedom that they consider crucial to garnering the 10 GOP votes needed to clinch 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.

Baldwin, who in 2012 was the first openly gay person to be elected to the Senate, was tapped by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to lobby support from Republicans, and she’s been working since before summer recess with with Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, to do just that.

The Respect for Marriage Act, just four pages long, would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and require states recognize any marriage between two people, regardless of the “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of those individuals.”

When the proposal was brought to the House for a vote, 47 Republicans crossed party lines to support the measure – including No. 3 Republican Elise Stefanik of New York and Tom Emmer, Minnesota Republican and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. But support has been more difficult to corral in the Senate, despite support for gay marriage being one of the most rapidly embraced opinions among the American public.

As it stands, 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage, as do 87% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans.

Some Senate Republicans who had been vocal about supporting the bill are also insisting that the amendment on religious freedom be included before officially committing to a yes vote. The specific language is expected to be released Thursday afternoon.

In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade – a decision that’s set to motivate voters, especially women, to the polls far more than anything Democrats have done legislatively on their own – many Republican strategists were worried that sinking a bill that would enshrine Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriages, would result in a devastating blow on Election Day.

Notably, the delay comes just days after more than 400 Republicans leaders from across the country, including current and former GOP lawmakers from every level of government spanning the last two decades, called on Senate Republicans to pass the same-sex marriage protections.

Beyond persuading their colleagues to appeal to their better angels by enshrining the right to same-sex marriage, the push from prominent conservative leaders – past, present and future – signaled how critical Republicans considered the forthcoming vote on same-sex marriage to be in their ability to eke out enough wins in the Nov. 6 election to control both chambers of Congress, especially in the Senate, where a handful of tight races in battleground states will decide its fate.

The delayed vote allows them to breathe a sigh of relief – at least temporarily.

Schumer said that Democratic and Republican negotiators have been meeting every day this week to hammer out the final details, and that he is “glad to give them space to lead these negotiations because this needs to be done and done right.”

“The onus is on our Republican colleagues to demonstrate they are serious about passing marriage equality into law,” Schumer said on the chamber floor Thursday morning. “Every single Democrat is for it, but of course we need 60 votes. Let me be clear, my No. 1 priority is to pass legislation. It’s an issue that will have profound consequences for millions of American in same-sex marriages and who identify as LGBTQ.”

“To down this or let it pass by or act like we can put it off to another time is not the right thing to do,” he continued. “We should do it now and that’s why we’re eager to get 10 Republicans to support the bill.”