Updated 10:25 PM ET, Wed July 20, 2022
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana suggested he’s a no on the bill. He argued it is a “silly messaging bill.” “It’s a pure messaging bill. I mean, it’s obviously settled law right now,” Cassidy said. “This is a pure messaging bill by a party which has failed on substantive issues, be it inflation, crime or the border, and now are looking for cultural issues in order to somehow do better in November.” Asked if he would vote for it, Cassidy wouldn’t answer. “It’s such a silly messaging bill, I’m just not going to address that.”
- John Cornyn of Texas told CNN he is a no on the legislation.
- Ted Cruz of Texas suggested he’s a no on the bill. Cruz, who has publicly disagreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, said Wednesday that he doesn’t believe there is enough Republican support to pass legislation codifying it. “I doubt it,” he said. “If there’s a vote, we’ll see where the votes are.” Asked how he would vote, Cruz dodged, saying: “I support the Constitution and letting the democratic process operate.”
- Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN he is a no on this bill. He said, “I’ll support the Defense of Marriage Act” — which is what the House-passed bill would repeal.
- Josh Hawley of Missouri is a no on the legislation, according to his office.
- Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said he’s a no on the bill. “Any attempt by Sen. Schumer to bring up legislation codifying same-sex marriage in the Senate would clearly be an attempt to distract from the Democrats’ failed agenda. That said, my views on marriage have not changed and I would not support codifying same-sex marriage into law,” Inhofe said in a statement to CNN.
- Marco Rubio of Florida told CNN he is a no on the legislation, saying it’s a “stupid waste of time.”
- Roger Wicker of Mississippi told CNN he’s likely a no on the bill. “I’d probably be a no,” he said, adding: “I do not believe the Supreme Court is going to touch this issue.”
- Richard Burr of North Carolina is undecided. He told CNN on Wednesday that he has not seen the bill yet, when asked whether he’d vote for it.
- Roy Blunt of Missouri told CNN he isn’t sure and wants “look at it and see.” He also raised the question, “What do we feel obligated to do next?” if the Senate does codify same-sex marriage into federal law. He added: “I don’t have any problem with same-sex marriage, but I’m not sure — I want to look at the legislation.”
- Mike Braun of Indiana told CNN on Wednesday he’s going to wait until the bill is brought to the Senate floor, then he’ll look at it.
- Joni Ernst of Iowa is keeping an open mind about the same-sex marriage legislation, and she’ll review the bill should it come before the Senate, according to a spokesperson from her office.
- Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told CNN: “I have not fully reviewed it.”
- Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said she’s waiting to read the legislation.
- Rand Paul of Kentucky said he hasn’t had a chance to look at it yet.
- Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was noncommittal on Tuesday when asked whether he’d vote to in support of the House bill that would enshrine protections for same-sex marriage into federal law, saying, “I’m gonna delay announcing anything on that issue until we see what the majority leader wants to put on the floor.”
- Mitt Romney of Utah was noncommittal on the bill, telling CNN that the same-sex marriage bill “is not something I’ve given consideration to at this stage” since “I don’t see the law changing.”
- Mike Rounds of South Dakota said he hasn’t looked at the bill. “I already think that the fact that we’ve got eight to one on the Supreme Court that indicated that it’s not coming up, probably makes it a moot question to begin with,” he said. Asked how he feels about same-sex marriage in general, he responded: “I think there’s a difference between matrimony as a sacrament and a legal marriage and so if someone wants to do that type of partnership, I’m not opposed to it.”
- Rick Scott of Florida told CNN he wants to wait and see, but believes the Supreme Court has already decided this, when asked if he’d support the bill.
- Dan Sullivan of Alaska told CNN he “has to review” it. He noted that he accepts the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
- John Thune of South Dakota, the GOP whip, told CNN he will take a “hard look” at the bill, even though he has previously opposed same-sex marriage. Thune said he expects the legislation will have similarly strong GOP support in the Senate as it received in the House. “As you saw there was pretty good bipartisan support in the House yesterday and I expect there’d probably be the same thing you’d see in the Senate,” he said. Thune also contended the bill is an effort to distract from economic issues and high inflation ahead of the midterms. Asked if his own views have changed, Thune wouldn’t say explicitly. “I got a view on that, that goes back a long ways. But I also respect the decision that was made by the Court in 2015,” Thune said.
- Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he hasn’t looked at the bill yet, when asked whether by CNN whether he’d vote for it.
- Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told CNN on Wednesday he’d like to wait and look at the entire bill. “But I think people ought to have freedom to do what they want. It’s free country,” he said.
- Todd Young of Indiana said he hasn’t read it. “The details are really important. Yeah, so feel more comfortable answering that after I’ve read the legislation,” he said, when asked how he’d vote on the measure.
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