The real surprise was seeing conservatives line up against the bill over an amendment added late Wednesday by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.).
Advertisement
The national debate over LGBT rights has made its mark on Capitol Hill, as a dispute over another gay rights amendment derailed the passage of a spending bill Thursday – throwing the entire appropriations process into chaos.
Allen, a small businessman in the building industry, didn’t make any mention of the energy spending bill coming up for a vote that day, or an amendment to it that would prohibit federal contractors from sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination.
Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks, who opposed the bill, told CNN that Maloney’s amendment “codifies an extra-Constitutional executive order by President (Barack) Obama that would create a new protected class and I think would polarize our society in ways that are completely unnecessary”. Forty-three Republicans joined the unanimous Democratic caucus in voting for the amendment, and it was adopted, but Republicans then used their majority to pass with no Democratic support a counter-amendment offered by Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., to reassert exceptions for religious organizations. The Pitts measure was adopted by voice vote.
The final roll call on the amendment is online here.
Maloney proposed an identical provision for a military spending bill that was defeated last week, after Republicans switched their votes after the clock ran out. The provision could have passed with 217 votes, but Republicans held the vote open for about eight minutes to allow members to change their votes.
Ryan told reporters on Wednesday that the breakdown – in which Democrats shouted “Shame!”
Republican leaders have tried to steer lawmakers away from wading into the hot-button debate on the House floor. The Maloney Amendment says that no funds from the bill can be used to contract with companies that aren’t in compliance with this executive order. “Now these hard-working people and their families will be able to sleep a little easier knowing that they can’t be fired because of who they are or love. Yet, so far this year the GOP leadership appears either unwilling or unable to stand up to a lame duck president on important issues facing the American people”.
The bill’s failure Thursday marks the second time in two weeks lawmakers waged very public fights over LGBT policies on the House floor.
But it was Pelosi who led a charge by Democrats against a provision to protect North Carolina from retaliation by several federal agencies over the law requiring transgender people to use the restroom of their sex at birth.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis.is in a tough spot as Republicans want to introduce “religious liberty” measures aimed at Obama’s LGBT actions on the floor. But that is not an easy task since Republicans disagree on whether LGBT rights should be protected at all.
Advertisement
The Obama administration and North Carolina are embroiled in a legal battle over the state’s new law. Later that morning a vital spending bill containing the LGBT protections amendment failed.
