Same-sex marriage bill clears key Senate hurdle as Republicans on brink of House majority – as it happened | US politics

With Republicans on the cusp of taking control of the House, the Senate moved forward with legislation to codify the right to same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has as expected beaten a challenge for the leadership of the Republican party in the Senate. And Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, despite skepticism from several Republicans, some of whom worked with him.

Here’s what else is happened today:

• Georgia’s Senate race is a “toss-up”, the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato says. The contest between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker goes to voters on 6 December.

• The 14th amendment bars Trump from holding office again because of his actions on January 6, a Democratic congressman argues.

• The New York Post roasted Trump’s campaign announcement, in another sign the Murdochs may be abandoning the ex-president.

• Mike Pence said that he’s “closing the door” to testifying before the January committee, in an interview with CBS news.

• Starting in January, 57{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the country will live in states with a Democratic governor after the party’s strong performance last week.

In January, 57{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of Americans will live in states with Democratic governors

Lauren Gambino

Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, (DGA) said on a call with reporters Wednesday that starting in January, 57{5e8d5e6d3ec6f86b3ba11321f56f956b46cb0773559b038c125856e14d584eaa} of the country would live in states with a Democratic governor after the party’s strong performance last week.

“It wasn’t that surprising to me that we won these races,” Cooper said. “What was surprising was the margins and how resounding many of these victories in swing states were.”

In battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona, Democratic candidates defeated far-right, Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidates, offering a “blueprint” for the party moving forward, Cooper said.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, the group’s vice-chair, attributed the victories to a “cocktail” of ingredients, among them the quality of the candidates and the extremism of their Republican opponents.

Both Cooper and Murphy lamented the loss of Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada, who was defeated by the Trump-backed Joe Lombardo. Calling Nevada the “one that got away”, Murphy said voters likely punished Sisolak for implementing strict coronavirus restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic, which had a painful effect on the state’s tourism industry. “He paid a big price for doing the right thing,” Murphy said.

Lauren Aratani

Yesterday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voiced support for a Senate bill which would protect same-sex marriage, saying LGBTQ+ individuals are entitled to rights even while affirming its belief that same-sex relationships are a sin.

“The doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints related between a man and a woman is well-known and will remain unchanged,” the church said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are grateful for the continuing efforts of those who work to ensure the Respect for Marriage Act includes appropriate religious freedom protections while respecting the law and preserving the rights of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.”

The Senate is set to vote on Wednesday on the Respect for Marriage Act, which will repeal a Clinton-era law that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. The bill also prohibits states from denying out-of-state marriage licenses and benefits on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.

While the church has a long history of opposing same-sex relationships – it spent $20m trying to pass proposition 8 in California, a 2008 measure which banned same-sex marriage in the state – it has taken a more relaxed view of same-sex marriage in recent years.

In 2016, the church said that it welcomed members who identified as LGBTQ+, though it reiterated its stance that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In 2019, the church repealed a 2015 rule that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and said gay marriage is a sin worth expulsion from the church. At the time, the church said same-sex relationships were still a “serious transgression”.

“As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” the church said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, said: “We are heartened to see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints support the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act. Despite differences we may have, we can always discover common ground on laws that support the strengthening of all families.”

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The Senate voted to move forward with the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right of same sex couples to marry. Twelve Republicans voted with Democrats to move the bill forward, and a final vote could come this week.

The bill, which already passed the Democratic-controlled house with the votes of 47 Republicans, gained momentum after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested, after the overturning of Roe v Wade, that the right to same sex marriage could come under threat.

The Respect for Marriage Act will “make our country a better, fairer place to live,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who also mentioned that his daughter and her wife are expecting a baby next year.

Martin Pengelly

The House rules committee heard testimony today about the prospect of sitting a delegate from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma – a US government promise unfulfilled for nearly 200 years.

The principle chief of the 440,000-member Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin, was among those to testify. He is behind the attempt to seat Kimberly Teehee, a former adviser to Barack Obama.

As described by the Associated Press, “the tribe’s right to a delegate is detailed in the Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1835, which provided the legal basis for the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi river and led to the Trail of Tears, but it has never been exercised. A separate treaty in 1866 affirmed this right.”

As described by the National Parks Service, the Trail of Tears involved “the forced westward migration of American Indian tribes from the south and south-east”, resulting in “4,000 Cherokee deaths on the way to present-day Oklahoma”.

In Congress today, Hoskin said: “The Cherokee Nation has in fact adhered to our obligations under these treaties. I’m here to ask the United States to do the same.”

The AP continues: “Hoskin also suggested Teehee could be seated this year by way of either a resolution or change in statute. The committee chairman, the Massachusetts Democrat James McGovern, and other members supported the idea. McGovern said:

This can and should be done as quickly as possible. The history of this country is a history of broken promise after broken promise to Native American communities. This cannot be another broken promise.

“McGovern said he has been contacted by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Delaware Nation, both of which have treaties with the US government that call for representation in Congress. McGovern also noted there are two other federally recognized bands of Cherokee Indians that argue they should be considered successors to the 1835 treaty: the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians based in North Carolina.

“Members of the committee seemed to be in agreement that any delegate from the Cherokee Nation would be similar to delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. These delegates are assigned to committees and can submit amendments to bills, but cannot vote for final passage of bills. Puerto Rico is represented by a non-voting resident commissioner who is elected every four years.”

McConnell re-elected as Republican Senate leader

Martin Pengelly

Mitch McConnell has as expected beaten a challenge for the leadership of the Republican party in the Senate, the Washington Post reports.

As the Post puts it, the Kentucky senator “turned back a challenge from Senator Rick Scott of Florida, after the party failed to pick up seats in the chamber in the midterm elections [last week].

“Some senators sought unsuccessfully to delay the vote to give them more time to assess the GOP’s dismal performance. McConnell has led Senate Republicans since 2007. Scott helmed the campaign committee tasked with electing more Republicans.”

What the Post pleasingly calls “machinations” among Senate Republicans echo those in the House, where yesterday Kevin McCarthy survived a challenge to be the Republican nominee for speaker, should as is overwhelmingly likely the GOP take control of that chamber.

McCarthy will have a lot more to do in that instance, needing 218 votes but facing a restive far-right wing of an increasingly far-right party, some of whom, such as Matt Gaetz of Florida, have said they won’t support him whatever concessions he offers.

Of course, this is politics so that could change in a moment. One thing not changing for the moment is McConnell’s grip on Senate Republicans. He won Wednesday’s vote 37-10.

As Punchbowl News put it this morning, before the Scott vote, “the 80-year-old McConnell is on the verge of breaking the late Democratic Montana senator Mike Mansfield’s record for the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

McConnell will reach that milestone in January. McConnell is acutely aware of this record – and his place in Senate history. Yet McConnell and his allies hoped he would be doing it as majority leader, especially with a very favorable Senate map heading into this cycle.”

By January McConnell and the rest of us will know if he will operate for the next two years in a 50-50 Senate, controlled by Kamala Harris as vice-president, or a 51-49 Senate in Democrats’ favour. The Georgia runoff between the Trump-backed Republican Herschel Walker and the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, will take place on 6 December.

Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, although it is most certainly not 2015. The former president’s announcement last night is being greeted with skepticism by several Republicans, some of whom worked with him, while his daughter Ivanka Trump has opted to stay out of politics this time around. In Washington, Republicans are waiting to learn if they won control of the House, while the Senate is teeing up a vote on a bill to ensure same-sex marriages continue.

Here’s what else is happening today:

• Georgia’s Senate race is a “toss-up,” the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato says. The contest between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker goes to voters on 6 December.

• The 14th amendment bars Trump from holding office again because of his actions on January 6, a Democratic congressman argues.

• The New York Post roasted Trump’s campaign announcement, in another sign the Murdochs may be abandoning the ex-president.

The Senate is expected to vote today on the Respect for Marriage Act codifying the right of same-sex couples to marry, after the legislation appeared to receive enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster.

The bill already passed the Democratic-controlled house with the votes of 47 Republicans, but it’s been an open question whether enough GOP lawmakers would vote for the measure in the Senate. Axios reports that North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis is optimistic about its passage:

The ability for same-sex couples to marry was created by the 2015 supreme court case Obergefell v Hodges. In June, rightwing justice Clarence Thomas suggested that precedent could be revisited by the court, which is now firmly in the grips of conservative justices. That lead to the push to enact a law that would ensure people of the same gender are allowed to marry, even if Obergefell is overturned.