Senate Delays Vote on Bill That Would Make Same Sex Marriage a Federal Right

The bill was expected to come to a final vote in the Senate on Nov. 17

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)(C) speaks alongside (From L) Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), after a meeting with President Joe Biden about a COVID-19 relief bill outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 1, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Senate has postponed a vote on a bill codifying a federal right to same-sex marriage.

The measure was expected to be taken up by the Senate on Nov. 17 but the legislative day, the last before Thanksgiving recess, came and went with no vote.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the same day that passing the bill would be “one of the more significant accomplishments of this Senate to date,” but did not explain the delay.

The delay is surprising in view of the wide support the same measure received just a day before when twelve Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting to advance the measure over the filibuster threshold.

In a bipartisan 62–37 vote, the Senate voted to limit debate on the measure. This was the last procedural hurdle the bill was likely to face, making the delay to hold the vote all the more inexplicable.

The bill would repeal the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman and replace it with language inclusive of gay marriage.

“The bill also repeals and replaces provisions that do not require states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states with provisions that prohibit the denial of full faith and credit or any right or claim relating to out-of-state marriages on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin,” the description of the bill on the Senate website says.

In addition to same-sex marriages, the bill grants new federal protections to interracial marriages.

The bill was approved by the House of Representatives in June but stalled in the Senate as lawmakers sought to hammer out a deal that could actually overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

As the upper chamber moved toward a vote on the legislation after months of negotiations, its fate still hung in the balance.