Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday.
“Thankfully, I am vaccinated and boosted and only experiencing minor symptoms,” Baldwin tweeted. “I will quarantine while I continue to work remotely.”
This makes Baldwin the fourth Democratic senator to test positive for the virus since the Senate returned from its August recess. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) also tested positive, while Sen. John Ossoff’s (D-GA) diagnosis is keeping him from a week of voting.
SENATE PUNTS VOTE ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE TO AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Baldwin, as the first lesbian senator, is working on finding 10 GOP senators to support her Respect for Marriage Act, a bill codifying same-sex marriage protections. Baldwin had hoped for a vote next week, but now expects to put it to a vote following the midterm elections as a result of her COVID-19 diagnosis.
“We’ve asked Leader Schumer for additional time, and we appreciate he has agreed,” Baldwin and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) said in a joint statement. “We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate floor for a vote, we will have the bipartisan support to pass the bill.”
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This push from Baldwin to codify same-sex marriage comes in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Democrats have cited Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion, which states that the high court should reconsider the issue, as reason to codify certain rights: specifically on abortion and contraception access, as well as marriage equality.
