Senate Advances Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Will Consider Several Religious Liberty Amendments

The U.S. Senate further advanced the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act” on Monday night but agreed to vote on religious liberty amendments pitched by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), James Lankford (R-OK), and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Senators voted 61-35 to end debate on a bipartisan amendment to the same-sex marriage bill that purports to protect religious liberty — although faith advocates say the amendment does nothing to shield Americans who have a traditional view of marriage from being targeted under the law. The 12 GOP Senators who initially voted with Democrats to advance the legislation on November 16 once again sided with Democrats.

The results came after the voting window was held open for nearly two-and-a-half hours. The delay occurred because senators were bartering “over whether additional amendments could come up for a vote and waited on the votes of three Republicans who had earlier this month voted to advance the broader bill,” according to The Hill.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced at the end of the roll call vote that the Senate will vote on Lee’s amendment (which needs 60 votes to pass), as well as Lankford’s and Rubio’s amendments (which need 50 votes to pass) on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. Then the Senate will hold a fourth vote to pass the Respect for Marriage Act as amended. The bill needs 60 votes to pass.

The “Respect for Marriage Act” was introduced following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, due to Democrats’ unfounded concerns that the Supreme Court could use the Dobbs decision to overrule the Court’s Obergefell gay marriage decision. The measure passed the House in July with the help of 47 Republicans, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to postpone a vote until after the midterms…. (Excerpt from Breitbart)