Politics in D.C. usually feels like a scripted drama where you already know the ending. But back in late 2022, the Respect for Marriage Act actually managed to keep people guessing. It was a massive moment. The bill was designed to protect same-sex and interracial marriage at the federal level, essentially acting as a firewall in case the Supreme Court ever decided to toss Obergefell or Loving out the window.
When the dust settled in the Senate, the vote was 61 to 36. Wait, 36? If you're looking for the 38 Republicans who voted no, you've likely noticed a slight discrepancy in the numbers depending on which chamber of Congress or which specific procedural hurdle you're looking at. In the final Senate tally, 36 Republicans voted "nay," while 3 others didn't vote at all. If you look at the House, the numbers were way higher—169 Republicans there said no.
Honestly, the "38" figure often comes from earlier procedural "cloture" votes or a combination of the "no" votes and the "not voting" crowd in the Senate. It’s a group that faced a ton of heat from both sides. Some called them principled defenders of religious liberty; others called them out-of-step with a country where 71% of people support marriage equality.
The Senate Breakdown: Who Walked the "No" Line?
The final Senate vote on November 29, 2022, is the one most people point to. Twelve Republicans joined all the Democrats to pass the bill. That left a solid block of GOP senators who weren't buying it.
If we look at the official roll call, the names are a "who’s who" of the conservative wing. You had folks like Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio leading the charge against it. Rubio famously called the bill a "stupid waste of time," arguing that the Supreme Court wasn't actually going to overturn marriage rights anyway.
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The list of Senate Republicans who voted "Nay" includes:
- John Barrasso (WY)
- Marsha Blackburn (TN)
- John Boozman (AR)
- Mike Braun (IN)
- Bill Cassidy (LA)
- John Cornyn (TX)
- Tom Cotton (AR)
- Kevin Cramer (ND)
- Mike Crapo (ID)
- Ted Cruz (TX)
- Steve Daines (MT)
- Joni Ernst (Wait—Ernst actually voted Yea, showing how messy these lists get).
Actually, let's get precise. The Republicans who held the line against the bill in the Senate were mostly from the South and the Mountain West. Josh Hawley and Mike Lee were particularly vocal. Lee’s whole argument centered on religious liberty. He was worried that if this became law, religious institutions—like Christian schools or adoption agencies—would get sued into oblivion or lose their tax-exempt status.
Why Did They Vote No? It Wasn't Just One Reason
Kinda feels like everyone just assumes it was about "traditional values," right? That’s part of it, sure. But the "no" votes usually pointed to three specific hang-ups.
1. The Religious Liberty "Black Hole"
This was the big one. Even though the bill was amended to include protections for religious organizations, critics like James Lankford (OK) argued it didn't go nearly far enough. They felt the language was too vague. They worried a small-town baker or a religious non-profit would still end up in court because the federal government was now "codifying" a definition of marriage they didn't agree with.
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2. The "States' Rights" Argument
A lot of these 38 (or 36) Republicans are federalism purists. They argue that the Constitution doesn't give the federal government the power to tell states how to define marriage. To them, this was a massive overreach. If Utah wants one thing and New York wants another, let them decide—that was the vibe.
3. The "Political Stunt" Theory
You heard this a lot from Lindsey Graham and others. They claimed the Democrats only brought this up to scare voters before the midterms. Since the Supreme Court hadn't actually overturned anything yet, many Republicans felt they were being forced to vote on a "hypothetical" problem.
The House Side of the Story
While the Senate gets the most eyeballs, the House of Representatives saw a much larger defection. When the final version of the bill went back to the House in December 2022, 169 Republicans voted no.
Basically, the House GOP was much more unified in its opposition than the Senate. Only 39 House Republicans broke ranks to vote "yes." The leadership—including Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise—all stayed in the "no" camp.
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It’s interesting to look at the geography here. The "no" votes were almost universal across the Deep South. If you were a Republican representing a district in Alabama, Georgia, or Mississippi, voting "yes" was essentially political suicide at the time.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Vote
There’s this idea that the 38 Republicans who voted no (or the 36 in the Senate) were trying to "ban" gay marriage. That’s not quite right.
Technically, the bill doesn't force states to perform same-sex marriages if Obergefell is ever overturned. It just forces them to recognize marriages performed in other states. It’s a "Full Faith and Credit" issue. Many of the Republicans who voted no argued that the bill was redundant because those protections already exist, or that it was a "Trojan Horse" for future lawsuits against religious people.
What Happens Now?
The bill is now law. President Biden signed it on the White House lawn in December 2022 with a lot of fanfare. But for those who voted no, the fight hasn't really ended.
We’re seeing the "actionable insights" of this vote play out in the courts today. If you're following legal trends, keep an eye on these areas:
- Religious Tax Status: Watch for any IRS challenges to religious schools. This was the #1 fear cited by the "no" voters.
- State-Level Defiance: Some states are still looking for ways to prioritize "traditional" marriage in their own local benefits and programs.
- Supreme Court Movement: If Justice Thomas gets his way and the court revisits marriage equality, the Respect for Marriage Act will finally be put to the test.
If you want to stay on top of how this affects you or your community, your best bet is to look at the State Department's guidelines on marriage recognition and follow the Alliance Defending Freedom or the ACLU for updates on the inevitable court cases. The vote might be over, but the legal ripple effects are just starting to hit the shore.