Baldwin Says 10 Republican Senators Support Respect for Marriage Act

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said in a recent interview that at least 10 Republican senators have "publicly stated" or privately "indicated" that they will support the Respect for Marriage Act when it comes to a vote in the Senate.

The legislation, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure that interracial and same-sex marriages are recognized in all states, passed in the House of Representatives with every Democrat supporting it and most Republicans opposing it. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill, which Democrats are hoping to pass before Congress goes into recess later this month.

Baldwin told PBS Wisconsin last week that "there are five Republicans who have publicly stated that they will support the Respect for Marriage Act, and I have spoken with ... five additional members have indicated they are leaning in support. But I think because of how crowded the calendar is for next week, which is our last week before the August recess, and in light of the fact that we can't have any absences, we need everybody there, and we have a few members with COVID. This is probably going to be a vote that occurs, what I would hope would be, early September."

Baldwin also noted that recent polling suggests that most Americans, including the majority of Republicans, support the legislation, and blamed the GOP for delaying its passage.

"The Congress of the United States, sadly, has often followed public opinion rather than led public opinion, and I am still very hopeful that we will have — in fact, I believe we do have the 10 votes necessary to avoid a filibuster, but, yeah, it is something where I have — in the arena of civil rights, the U.S. public is often ahead of their elected representatives, and that's too bad.

"There's also, sadly, a very strong difference between the parties. Every Democrat in the U.S. Senate supports the Respect for Marriage Act, and I don't think this should be an issue that is reflective of a partisan divide, but it seems it still is."

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