The U.S. Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act Tuesday in a bipartisan vote of 61 to 36, which will require the federal government to recognize all marriages, including same-sex marriages, that are legal in the state where they took place.
The measure will now move to the House, where it is expected to pass in the final days as a Democratic-controlled chamber, before making its way to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature.
A handful GOP senators, Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Moore Capito, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Cynthia Lummis, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Dan Sullivan, Thom Tillis and Todd Young, earlier this month helped the bill clear a first procedural hurdle.
An amendment by Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., was adopted Monday evening aimed at making sure the bill does not undermine religious liberty and states that nonprofit religious organizations “shall not be required to provide services” to a marriage it opposes.