GOP Aide: Obama Could ‘Mandate’ Gay Marriage and GOP Wouldn’t Say a Word

According to HuffPost’s Sam Stein and Jennifer Bendry, Republican lawmakers have been almost completely mum about the White House’s announcement yesterday of an executive order barring discrimination against gay employees by federal contractors, to be distinguished from a similar action in 1998 that immediately catalyzed Republicans in Congress to defund the measure.

While social conservatives are upset over the announcement, congressional Republicans see no advantage in going after the administration on the issue. “The White House doesn’t seem to grasp how completely uninterested GOP is in fighting on this stuff,” a former Romney campaign aide told HuffPost. “They could mandate gay marriages for everyone right now and you probably wouldn’t see a press release.”

Republican leaders in Congress were silent on the issue yesterday; in fact, the only press releases came from a pair of lawmakers expressing concerns over religious allowances in the order. A spokesperson for Focus on the Family said the organization expected more pushback as the executive order goes into effect, while Faith and Freedom Coalition Ralph Reed saved his criticism for the Obama administration’s avoidance of Congress.

Twenty-nine states lack laws protecting gay and lesbian employees from discrimination in hiring and firing decisions, while ENDA, a bill to enact federal protections, has been stalled by the GOP House.

[h/t HuffPost]

[Image via 360b / Shutterstock.com]

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