On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision ruling the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to fire people based on sexual orientation or gender identity — with the 6-3 opinion being handed down by President Donald Trump's own Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Though many activists within the conservative movement were shocked and enraged by what they saw as a rank betrayal, Politico reported that Senate Republicans are by and large making peace with the decision — and some are even relieved that the liberals won the day.
The Trump administration had urged the court to rule that the sex discrimination provisions of the Civil Rights Act do not apply to LGBTQ workers. However, according to the report, Republicans had privately been fearing the public backlash if the Supreme Court agreed — and worried that public pressure would mount for Congress to legislatively protect LGBTQ rights instead.
"On Monday, the Republican Party seemed generally supportive of both the substance and process by which the Supreme Court extended Civil Rights Act protections to gay, lesbian and transgender workers. President Donald Trump declined to trash the decision, calling it 'powerful' — and his party largely agreed with the Supreme Court’s surprising ruling," reported Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine. "Plus, the decision could take from Congress a divisive social issue — five months before the 2020 elections. Congress has repeatedly failed to address the issue."
"It’s the law of the land," agreed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). "And it probably makes uniform what a lot of states have already done. And probably negates Congress’s necessity for acting."
