Respect For Marriage Act: How New York Republican House Members Voted

NEW YORK — Forty-seven U.S. House Republicans — including all but one from New York — crossed the aisle Tuesday to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, a measure Democrats said was necessary after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade earlier this summer, ending 50 years of constitutional protections on abortion.

The only "no" vote from the New York congress members was from Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-22nd Congressional District.

She explained she supports the precedent established by the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges and calls the vote on the Respect for Marriage Act an attempt by House Democrats to "score cheap political points."

Tenney denied, despite what Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said in his concurring opinion of Dobbs, that marriage for same-sex couples was under threat.

The June decision in the case that reversed Roe, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, was one of the few times in history the Supreme Court has invalidated an earlier decision declaring a constitutional right.

It sparked fears other landmark cases, including the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, could fall next. In his concurring opinion, Thomas argued that if the Constitution's Due Process Clause doesn't guarantee the right to an abortion, it doesn't guarantee other substantive rights either.

The Respect for Marriage Act is the latest in Democrats’ push to codify rights that have been long considered settled law, but now seen as vulnerable with a firmly conservative Supreme Court.

Just over 20 percent of the GOP caucus supported the measure, which passed 267-157 on a roll call vote — signaling that at least some faction of the party accepts the decisions that constitutionally protected same-sex marriage, or that Republicans recognize personal freedoms are on the ballot in the November midterm elections.

Notably, both House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elsie Stefanik of New York and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer of Minnesota voted with the Democrats.

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate. Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin were joined by Sen. Susan Collins in sponsoring the Senate version of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Importantly, the legislation codifying the rights to same-sex and interracial marriage repeals the 1990s-era Defense of Marriage Act. The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in two cases, Windsor v. United States, and the Obergefell v. Hodges decision protecting same-sex marriage.

The Defense of Marriage Act allowed states to refuse to recognize valid civil marriages of same-sex couples. That legislation also exempted same-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, from federal statutes, regulations and rulings that apply to other married people, denying them more than 1,100 federal benefits.

The House Democratic caucus voted unanimously in support of the Respect for Marriage Act. Republicans who joined them are:

California: Reps. Ken Calvert, Mike Garcia, Jay Obernolte, Darrell Issa and David Valadao.

Florida: Reps. Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart, Rep. Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Maria Elvira Salazar and Michael Waltz.

Idaho: Rep. Mike Simpson.

Illinois: Reps. Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger.

Iowa: Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Michigan: Reps. Peter Meijer and Fred Upton.

Minnesota: Rep. Tom Emmer.

Missouri: Rep. Ann Wagner.

Nebraska: Rep. Don Bacon.

New Jersey: Rep. Jefferson Van Drew

New York: Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Chris Jacobs, John Katko, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin.

North Dakota: Rep. Kelly Armstrong.

Ohio: Reps. Mike Carey, Anthony Gonzalez, David Joyce and Mike Turner.

Oregon: Rep Cliff Bentz.

Pennsylvania: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Meuser and Scott Perry.

South Carolina: Reps. Nancy Mace and Tom Rice.

Texas: Rep. Tony Gonzales.

Utah: Reps. John Curtis, Blake Moore, Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart.

Washington: Rep. Dan Newhouse.

Wisconsin: Rep. Bryan Steil.

Wyoming: Rep. Liz Cheney

Five of the GOP House members who supported the bill — Gonzalez, Kinzinger, Katko, Upton and Jacobs — are not seeking reelection this year. Davis and Rice lost their primaries for re-election, and Zeldin is running for governor of New York.