The Senate is going to be voting this week on a bill to codify the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage protections following a bipartisan deal earlier on Monday. The group of Senators also said that they thought this bill was going to get past the filibuster and get to President Biden’s desk.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) filed cloture on the legislation, with the first vote expected to take place on Wednesday. This move by the Democrats shows that they believe they would be able to gain the support of 10 Senate Republicans. The new deal updates some of the languages from what it had previously been and adds provisions to assuage GOP members because of religious liberty issues.
Schumer added that his priority would be to move things in a bipartisan way whenever possible. He added that this legislation was incredibly important which is why they had waited for bipartisan support. Schumer added that he hoped that at least 10 Republicans would vote in favor of marriage equality and support millions of Americans.
A group of five senators, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), released the updated legislation which would also protect religious organizations from having to provide same-sex marriage services. Religious liberty and conscience protections under the Constitution and federal law would also be ensured.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told the Hill that if a religious freedom amendment has been added then he would be willing to support the bill. This means that there are four Republican Senators who have already expressed their support.
The legislation in its updated form also ensures that the government does not recognize polygamous marriage.
