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The Respect for Marriage Act of 2022 was a bill codifying the recognition of marriages between individuals of the same sex and of different races, ethnicities, or national origins. It was passed by the117th Congress and signed into law by PresidentJoe Biden (D) on December 13, 2022.^[1]

TheUnited States Senate voted 61-36 to approve an amended version of the bill on November 29, 2022. The House approved the amended bill in a 258-169 vote on December 8.^[2]

Noteworthy elements of the law include:^[3]

• Removing the definition, established in the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 (DOMA), ofmarriage as between a man and a woman andspouse as a person of the opposite sex for the purposes of federal law, and replacing it with "an individual shall be considered married if that individual’s marriage is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into."
• Amending the provision in DOMA that allowed states not to recognize same-sex marriages entered into in other states, and replacing it with a requirement that states not deny any rights or claims pertaining to marriages entered into in other states regardless of the married individuals' sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.
• Providing that the bill would not impact religious liberty or conscience protections, or provide grounds to compel nonprofit religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages.

Rep.Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) was this bill's lead sponsor in the House.^[2] In the Senate, the bill was amended to include proposed provisions regarding religious liberty and nonprofit religious organizations. Negotiations on the amendment were led by Sens.Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.),Susan Collins (R-Maine),Rob Portman (R-Ohio),Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), andThom Tillis (R-N.C.).^[4]

This page provides the following information about the bill:

• Background of the law
• Timeline of congressional action: Key dates and votes relating to the bill's adoption.
• Roll call votes on the bill
• Text of the law: The text of the bill released on June 21, 2022.

Background

The Supreme Court ruled that DOMA's definitions ofmarriage andspouse were unconstitutional inUnited States v. Windsor (2013). The court also ruled that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional inObergefell v. Hodges (2015), and that interracial marriage bans were unconstitutional inLoving v. Virginia (1967).

In a November 16 floor speech, Baldwin said, "It is not unreasonable for same-sex and interracial couples to be fearful that the protections of their marriages are in real jeopardy. The fact that the constitutional principles of liberty, privacy, self-determination, and equal treatment under the law, upon whichRoe v. Wade was originally decided, are the same constitutional principles on which theLoving [v. Virginia] andObergefell [v. Hodges] cases were decided -- that makes the Supreme Court's reversal ofRoe v. Wade all the more shocking and frightening to those in interracial and same-sex marriages."^[5] The Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, inDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.Click here to read more about the ruling.

Collins also spoke on the bill, saying, "Regardless of one's views on that possibility [of the Supreme Court overturning same-sex or interracial marriage protections], there's still value in ensuring that our federal laws reflect that same-sex and interracial couples have the right to have their marriages recognized regardless of where they live in this country." She also said, "Simultaneously, we must also recognize that people of good conscience may disagree on issues related to marriage. [...] It is important to me that our bill would not affect or diminish in any way religious liberty and conscience protections."^[5]

Timeline

The following section provides an abbreviated timeline of key actions related to the Respect for Marriage Act of 2022.

• December 13, 2022: PresidentJoe Biden (D) signed the bill into law.

• December 8, 2022: The House voted 258-169 to approve the amended version of the bill.^[2]

• November 29, 2022: The Senate voted 61-36 to pass the amended bill.^[2]

• November 28, 2022: The Senate voted 61-35 to invoke cloture on the religious liberty amendment to the bill (Amendment 6487).^[2]

• November 16, 2022: The Senate voted 62-37 to invoke cloture on the bill.^[2]

• November 14, 2022: Sens. Baldwin, Collins, Portman, Synema, and Tillis released the text of their amendment to the bill.^[4]

• July 18, 2022: The House voted 267-157 to approve the bill.^[2]

• July 18, 2022: The bill was introduced in the House on July 18, 2022.^[2]

Roll calls

House vote on passage of amended bill (December 8, 2022)

The House voted 258-169 to pass the amended bill on December 8, 2022.^[2]

• 219 Democrats voted yes.
• Thirty-nine Republicans voted yes.
• One Republican, Rep.Burgess Owens (R-Utah), voted present.
• Four Republicans, Reps.Kevin Brady (R-Texas),Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.),Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), andLee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), did not vote.
• 169 Republicans voted against the bill.

Senate vote on passage (November 29, 2022)

The Senate voted 61-36 to pass the bill on November 29, 2022.^[2]

• Forty-seven Democrats voted yes.
• The two independents who caucus with Democrats also voted yes.
• One Democrat, Sen.Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), did not vote.
• Twelve Republicans voted yes. The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill were:
  • Sen.Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Sen.Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen.Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sen.Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen.Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen.Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Sen.Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen.Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sen.Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Sen.Tom Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sen.Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Sen.Todd Young (R-Ind.).
• Two Republicans, Sens.Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) andBen Sasse (R-Neb.) did not vote.
• Thirty-six Republicans voted against the motion.

Senate vote to invoke cloture on Amendment 6487 (November 28, 2022)

The Senate voted 61-35 to invoke cloture on the religious liberty amendment to the bill on November 28, 2022.^[2]

• Forty-seven Democrats voted yes.
• The two independents who caucus with Democrats also voted yes.
• One Democrat, Sen.Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), did not vote.
• Twelve Republicans voted yes. The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill were:
  • Sen.Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Sen.Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen.Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sen.Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen.Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen.Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Sen.Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen.Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sen.Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Sen.Tom Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sen.Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Sen.Todd Young (R-Ind.).
• Three Republicans, Sens.John Barrasso (R-Wyo.),Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), andBen Sasse (R-Neb.) did not vote.
• Thirty-five Republicans voted against the motion.

Senate vote to invoke cloture (November 16, 2022)

The Senate voted 62-37 to invoke cloture on November 16, 2022.^[2]

• Forty-eight Democrats voted yes.
• The two independents who caucus with Democrats also voted yes.
• Twelve Republicans voted yes. The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill were:
  • Sen.Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Sen.Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen.Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sen.Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen.Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen.Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Sen.Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen.Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Sen.Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Sen.Tom Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sen.Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Sen.Todd Young (R-Ind.).
• One Republican, Sen.Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) did not vote.
• Thirty-seven Republicans voted against the motion.

House vote on passage (July 19, 2022)

The House voted 267-157 to pass the Respect for Marriage Act on July 19, 2022.^[2]

• 220 Democrats voted yes.
• 47 Republicans voted yes.
• 7 Republicans did not vote.
• 157 Republicans voted against the motion.

Text of the law

The legislative text below was released by Sens.Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.),Susan Collins (R-Maine),Rob Portman (R-Ohio),Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), andThom Tillis (R-N.C.) on November 14, 2022.^[4]

Key legislation during Biden administration

This section provides links to coverage of key federal legislation considered during theBiden administration. To be included, the bill must have met several of the following qualifying factors:

• Collaboration between the president and congressional leadership on the bill
• Use of the reconciliation process to pass the bill
• Changes to the congressional procedure to pass the bill
• Estimated cost of the bill as evaluated by theCongressional Budget Office
• Extent of public relations campaign to promote the bill
• Domestic and international policy ramifications

Legislation in the 118th Congress

• H.R.815: Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes.
• Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
• H.J.Res.7: Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.
• H.J.Res.30: Providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights"

Legislation in the 117th Congress

• Respect for Marriage Act of 2022
• Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022
• Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
• Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022
• Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act (amendment to H.R. 5746: NASA Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2021)
• American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
• Build Back Better Act
• Congressional Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2022
• For the People Act of 2021
• Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021

See also

• Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022
• Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021
• Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022
• Obergefell v. Hodges
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
• 117th Congress

Footnotes