US House passes a bill to protect same-sex marriage for the second time, this time with less Republican support

• The House passed a bill to protect same-sex marriage for the second time after senators amended it.
• Less Republicans voted for it this time than in July, despite amendments made by GOP senators.

The Respect for Marriage Act passed the House for the second time on Thursday, clearing the chamber by a 258-169 margin. It now heads to President Joe Biden's desk, where it's set to be signed into law.

39 House Republicans voted for the bill, less than the 47 who voted for the original version of the bill in July.

Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah voted "present." Four Republicans did not vote on the measure.

The bill, designed to strengthen protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, requires states to recognize marriages performed in other states and repeals the federal "Defense of Marriage Act" that defined marriage as solely between a man and woman.

The legislation was first introduced following the the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, when conservative Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in a concurring opinion to the court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the Court's 2015 ruling finding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage should be "reconsidered" as well.

Dozens of House Republicans, representing a broad and diverse swath of the conference, supported the bill when it first passed the chamber in July. Over the last four months, a bipartisan group of senators worked to amend the bill to ensure protections for religious liberties, and ultimately 12 Republican senators supported a new version of the legislation.

But in the four months since the bill first passed the House, conservative opposition grew, and some Republicans who voted for it the first time changed their votes.

Among them was Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, who told Insider ahead of the vote on Thursday that she had concerns about religious protections in the bill.

Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, was also among the dozens of House Republicans who voted for the bill in July.

But since then, the hardline conservative caucus has urged Republicans to vote against the bill, and Perry has expressed regret for his July vote.

"I calculated incorrectly," Perry told Tony Perkins, the leader of the socially conservative Family Research Council, in a November interview. He explained that his vote was merely about protecting interracial marriage and claimed that the Respect for Marriage Act "literally destroys religious freedom."

On Tuesday, Perry voted against the amended bill.