Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Monday announced his opposition to federal legislation that would protect same-sex marriage rights, joining Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in speaking out against a bill passed by the House last week.
Daines, the junior senator from Montana, said in a statement that he believes “marriage is between a man and a woman” and that the push to pass the Respect for Marriage Act is a ploy by Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif. ).
“I oppose this bill and believe it is yet another attempt by Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats to distract the American people from the inflation crisis, the energy crisis and the southern border crisis that they have created,” Daines said.
His statement follows a widely publicized spat between Rubio, who last week said the Respect for Marriage Act was a “stupid waste of time,” and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg, the first openly LGBTQ+ cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that he’s not sure why Republicans would oppose codifying same-sex marriage into federal law.
“I don’t understand why such a majority of House Republicans voted no on our marriage only on Tuesday, hours after I was in a room with many of them talking about transportation policy,” the transportation secretary said, “having what I thought were perfectly normal conversations with many of them about this subject, only for them to go around the corner and say my marriage doesn’t deserve to continue.
The House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act last week after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion in June.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said he wants to reconsider the right to same-sex marriage, which the court established as a constitutional right in 2015. Thomas’ opinion alarmed Democrats and civil rights activists.
The Respect for Marriage Act — which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which federally defines marriage as between a man and a woman — won the support of 47 Republicans in the House of Representatives last week, but the chances of such legislation clearing the evenly divided Senate are throw -up.
The Senate would need at least 10 Republicans to support the legislation for it to pass the chamber.
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While polls show a large majority of Americans support the right to same-sex marriage, more hard-line social conservatives view marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Multiple Republican senators told The Hill that they have not decided how they will vote on legislation codifying same-sex marriage.
However, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has spoken out against giving Americans a broad right to same-sex marriage, arguing on his “Conviction with Ted Cruz” podcast earlier this month that the issue should be left up to the states.
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