Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) has introduced an amendment to a $1.7 trillion spending bill that would defund the Respect for Marriage Act, a law signed by President Biden earlier this month that requires the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal, Fox News reports.
The amendment, a three-line bill prohibiting the use of Department of Justice funding to enforce the law, was not allowed to advance to the House floor by Committee Chairman Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) due to Democrats’ desire to pass the Respect for Marriage Act during the lame-duck session of Congress before Republicans take control of the House.
“If we were to amend this, and it goes back to the Senate, for all intents and purposes, it’s dead for the year,” McGovern said. “And many of us believe that we have a court right now that is hellbent on trying to reverse the rights for the LGBTQ community, and we do not trust them to respect marriage equality in this country.”
Rep. Roy had previously tried to introduce an amendment that would have protected individuals and organizations with religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage from federal retaliation.
The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed in a 258-169 vote in the House and a 61-36 vote in the Senate, aims to keep gay marriage legal in the event that the Supreme Court reverses its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Some GOP members protested that the bill did not sufficiently protect religious liberty, but 39 House Republicans still voted in favor of it.
