The fall session of the United States Congress began on Tuesday, and its upper house, the Senate, will also vote on the Democratic proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in the fall, which the House of Representatives already adopted in July.
The autumn session will be determined by the upcoming mid-term elections - and its campaign, which is also starting now - at which it will also be decided which representatives and senators can continue working in the legislature from January.
In addition to the Respect for Marriage Act, which regulates the extension of marriage equality, the Senate will discuss President Joe Biden's new budget spending request of 47.1 billion dollars (about HUF 19,000 billion), in which Ukraine is to be provided asks for contributions for new military aid, for the protection against the coronavirus and monkeypox, as well as for the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters.
The law recognizing same-sex marriage was adopted by the House of Representatives in mid-July. The Senate then adjourned until September to vote on what many saw as a divisive proposal. In order to pass, 60 of the 100 senators need to vote in favor, which means that 10 Republican members must also support the proposal. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate's majority, Democratic representative group, firmly stated before the summer break that the issue would be put to a vote, but he did not give an exact schedule.
A Republican consultant told Fox News television that in principle there would be those who would vote for the proposal with the Democrats, but due to the tension caused by the inflation reduction law pushed by the Democrats - with the smallest possible majority - these Republican senators may not be cooperative either. Another source close to Republicans said that even with the upcoming election, Republican support for such a sensitive issue cannot be guaranteed.
On November 8, American voters will decide on the new composition of the Congress. The Senate currently has 50 Democrats and 50 Republican members, the majority of the Biden administration in the Senate is provided by the Vice President, who has the right to vote there, Kamala Harris. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have a more comfortable majority, with 219 Democrats and 211 Republicans serving in the congressional cycle until the end of the year.
The members of the Congress closed the summer work in mid-August by passing the package of laws to reduce inflation.
Source: 888.hu
Featured image: Judit Takács – Ivett Szalma: Homophobia and same-sex partnership legislation in Europe (in: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 2011/5)/ Origó
