With a Surprisingly Bipartisan House Vote, There's a Chance the Senate Could Pass the Respect for Marriage Act

     There's a lot of action going on in Washington, D.C. right now. Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, a $280 billion investment in manufacturing, science, innovation, clean energy, competition with China, and much more. To allow this bill to pass, Senators Schumer and Manchin gave the appearance that discussions over the next bill I'm going to mention were over in order to stop a blockade by Mitch McConnell. Meanwhile, Congress is also trying to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that would cut carbon emissions by 40 percent, slash the costs of prescription drugs, lower Affordable Care Act premiums, and cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars by forcing the wealthy to pay their fair share and not raising taxes on those making under $400,000 per year. Whether or not this bill will pass hangs on the will of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who appears to want to delay it again. Then, there's the Honoring Our PACT Act, a $400 billion bill to support veterans that the GOP filibustered by a single vote last week, a bill that is a matter of life and death that we keep fighting to pass. Once these bills are passed, there will be a clear path for President Biden to cancel student debt in August.

     Meanwhile, there is also a tale of black and white going on. While Ron Johnson has voted or will vote against all three of those bills, Wisconsin's other senator, Tammy Baldwin, has not only voted for them, but begun working with Representative Mark Pocan on the Respect for Marriage Act. It has become clear that countering the Supreme Court must be a priority for civil rights activists around the country. We are working to defend and expand abortion access in states across the country after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Inflation Reduction Act combined with bold executive action will more than make up for the Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia v. EPA. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act along with executive action, proposed federal legislation, and state legislation can counteract the Supreme Court's dangerous decision in favor of gun violence. Meanwhile, the three Supreme Court decisions that activists most fear could be overturned after Roe are Loving v. Virginia, Obergefell v. Hodges, and Griswold v. Connecticut. The Respect for Marriage Act would codify the first two, which legalized interracial and gay marriage, into law. The Right to Contraception Act, meanwhile, would codify the latter decision, which, as the name of the bill suggests, legalized contraception, into law.

     On the Respect for Marriage Act, there is a lot of hope. Just under one in four House Republicans voted in favor of the bill, a rate that, if carried over into the Senate, would give it a filibuster-proof majority. Senator Tammy Baldwin has been leading negotiations with hopes of passing the bill as soon as August. In spite of what detractors might say, President Biden is uniquely positioned for this moment. He oversaw the contentious confirmation hearing of Robert Bork in 1987, a case that thrust him into the national spotlight and resulted in the Reagan Supreme Court nominee being shot down over his views on the right to privacy. At the end of the day, that is what this conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court is trying to do: strip away the right to privacy. If the Respect for Marriage Act and Right to Contraception Act are signed into law, defending the right to privacy may be Joe Biden's greatest legacy in his career spanning six decades. To ensure this happens, please contact your senator as soon as possible.

     I'm grateful, as a Wisconsinite and as a member of the LGBT2SQIA+ community, that Tammy Baldwin is my senator. I'm also motivated to ensure that she has a good partner in the Senate, one who will stand up to the Supreme Court, abolish the filibuster, and pass the Women's Health Protection Act. Our only shot at doing that is electing Mandela Barnes in November.