washington<u+2014>congressional republicans appear to be backing down from a fight over a ban on discrimination against gays and lesbians in federal contracting, a move that puts the highly charged issue in the hands of the incoming trump administration. house republicans had tried to use the annual defense policy bill<u+2014>one of a handful of bills congress must pass before lawmakers adjourn for the year<u+2014>to provide religious groups an exemption to president barack obama <u+2019>s 2014 executive order barring contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. if enacted, the measure from rep. steve russell (r., okla.) would give nonprofit, religious groups that contract with the government more leeway in their hiring. it was included in the house version of the defense policy bill for fiscal year 2017, but not the senate<u+2019>s. the two chambers are working on meshing the two versions into a final bill that could be unveiled in the coming week. democrats and liberal groups, long opposed to the measure, intensified their resistance after the election, which will send republican donald trump and his running mate, mike pence, to the white house next year. <u+201c>what you<u+2019>ve seen since the election is people see this as a line-in-the-sand moment,<u+201d> said ian thompson, a spokesman for the american civil liberties union. <u+201c>this is an opportunity to really say, <u+2018>no, we<u+2019>re not going to allow our taxpayer dollars to be used to fund discrimination and target vulnerable communities across the country.<u+2019> <u+201d> supporters say the exemptions are needed to protect religious groups who help the government through their work with veterans, refugees, the homeless and others. in some cases, religious groups may be the only ones offering those services, they say. in the face of opposition from congressional democrats and mr. obama, the final defense bill isn<u+2019>t expected to include the contentious amendment, according to congressional aides. that would leave it to mr. trump to decide how to handle the 2014 executive order on federal contracting, among other unilateral steps the president took over the past eight years. because it is relatively easy for a president to issue an executive order, it is similarly easy for the next administration to repeal them. mr. trump has said that during his first 100 days , he would <u+201c>cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by president obama.<u+201d> during his campaign, mr. trump sought to cast himself as a champion of gay rights, pledging during his gop convention speech to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from islamic state attacks. but he has opposed same-sex marriage, and in january, he said in a fox news interview that he would <u+201c>strongly consider<u+201d> appointing supreme court justices who would overturn the 2015 high-court ruling that established a national right to same-sex marriage. earlier this month, he said on <u+201c>60 minutes<u+201d> that he viewed same-sex marriage as <u+201c>settled<u+201d> law. mr. pence drew national attention in march 2015 when, as the governor of indiana, he signed a religious-objections bill into law. supporters argued it provided additional protection for religious beliefs, while opponents claimed it would allow businesses to not serve customers, hire workers or rent apartments based on sexual orientation. indiana lawmakers later made changes to the law after it sparked a backlash from businesses and other groups. <u+201c>in the aftermath of this presidential election, we must be more committed than ever to our core american values: tolerance, fairness, and justice for all under the law,<u+201d> sen. richard blumenthal (d., conn.) said in a statement this past week. last month mr. blumenthal sent a letter signed by 41 other members of the senate democratic caucus opposing mr. russell<u+2019>s religious exemption to the antidiscrimination order. mr. russell, a combat veteran who served in iraq, said his measure would ensure that religious groups wouldn<u+2019>t be disqualified from contracting with the government. <u+201c>having served a career in the military, i know what these groups do,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s why it was important to make sure that we allow them to continue to do it.<u+201d> many provisions in the current defense bill expire at year<u+2019>s end. lawmakers and aides have said they plan to pass the new defense bill before they adjourn for the year in mid-december. the white house has threatened to veto the house version of the defense bill and highlighted the russell amendment as one of its objections. the administration said it <u+201c>strongly objects<u+201d> to the measure, saying it <u+201c>would undermine important protections put in place by the president to ensure that federal contractors and subcontractors do not engage in discriminatory employment practices.<u+201d> write to kristina peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
congress puts off battle over an obama antidiscrimination order - wsj
kristina peterson