The Senate will delay a vote on same-sex marriage legislation until after the midterm elections in hopes of swaying more Republican support, CNN reports.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, one of the lead Democratic negotiators, called to delay the bill until after the November elections in hopes of winning over more Republican senators.
“We’re very confident that the bill will pass, but we will need a little more time,” she said, adding that she wants to hold a vote “the day after the election.”
Democrats previously aimed to vote on the bill before the midterms.
Democrats have called for urgency on the legislation, warning that the Supreme Court may overturn its precedent on same-sex marriage after the court struck down Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
Schumer agrees to delay:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said that he will agree to delay the vote.
“Because Leader Schumer’s main objective is to pass this important legislation, he will adhere to the bipartisan group of Senators’ request to delay floor action, and he is 100 percent committed to holding a vote on the legislation this year,” Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman told CNN. “Leader Schumer will not give up and will hold the bipartisan group to their promise that the votes to pass this marriage equality legislation will be there after the election.”
GOP wants vote after election:
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN that holding a vote before the midterms seemed political.
“Some said the timing of the vote was political. This is clearly, I think, a situation where we want to make our members feel comfortable with it, and I’m confident we’ll ultimately pass it,” Tillis said.
“If you do it after the election, it’s clearly not something that you’re doing just for a political purpose and I think people will think about it more thoughtfully because of that and a handful of them likely to decide to be somewhere after the election than they would have been with vote that was purely – likely – a political ploy,” agreed Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt.
