Twelve Senate Republicans on Tuesday backed final approval of a bill guaranteeing federal protections for same-sex marriage, allowing it to pass the 60-vote threshold needed for passage.
The Republicans in the upper house who supported the bill were the Senses. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Thom Tillis (NC), Mitt Romney (Utah), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Richard Burr (NC), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Todd Young (Ind.).
The support from GOP senators came as no surprise as they all backed moving the legislation forward in a series of recent votes, and Tuesday’s 61-36 vote now sends the legislation back to the House, which had previously adopted a similar version.
Three of the bill’s Republican supporters – Collins, Portman and Tillis – served as lead negotiators.
The five-member group, which also included Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona), had pushed back the legislation until after the midterm elections to improve its chances of passing, also adding provisions for tone down some Republicans. religious freedom concerns.
“Tonight, the Senate took a historic step to help prevent discrimination, promote equality, and protect the rights of all Americans by passing the Respecting Marriage Act that @SenatorBaldwin and I drafted,” wrote Collins on Twitter. “Our bill would help ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.
Blunt, who had publicly expressed support for the delay, cited the additions to religious freedom protections in voting for the bill.
Blunt, Portman and Burr did not seek re-election this year and will step down from the upper house in January.
Some Republicans who supported the bill, including Lummis, said they did so while personally disagreeing with same-sex marriage.
“Wyoming is the state of equality, and while I firmly believe that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, I respect that others have different beliefs,” Lummis said in a statement, citing his state’s constitution.
Romney, who earlier this fall was still undecided on the bill, also expressed his approval after the Mormon Church announced it supported the legislation. Romney is a longtime active member of the church.
“Although I believe in traditional marriage, Obergefell is and has been the law of the land that LGBTQ people have relied on. This legislation provides certainty for many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress — and I — value and love all of our fellow Americans equally,” Romney wrote in a statement after an earlier vote to advance the legislation.
With the exception of Sen. Raphael Warnock, who missed Tuesday’s vote while campaigning for Georgia’s upcoming runoff, all Senate Democrats backed the legislation.
Retired Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who previously opposed a procedural vote on the bill, also missed the vote, in addition to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).
