S. 1598: First Amendment Defense Act

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S. 1598: First Amendment Defense Act

114th Congress · introduced 2015-06-17 · Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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Official title

First Amendment Defense Act

Plain summary

First Amendment Defense Act Prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. Defines "discriminatory action" as any federal government action to discriminate against a person with such beliefs or convictions, including a federal government action to: alter the federal tax treatment of, cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke certain tax exemptions of any such person; disallow a deduction of any charitable contribution made to or by such person; withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any federal grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, certification, accreditation, employment, or similar position or status from or to such person; or withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any benefit under a federal benefit program. Requires the federal government to consider to be accredited, licensed, or certified for purposes of federal law any person who would be accredited, licensed, or certified for such purposes but for a determination that the person believes or acts in accordance with such a religious belief or moral conviction. Permits a person to assert an actual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and to obtain compensatory damages or other appropriate relief against the federal government. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce this Act against the Government Accountability Office or an establishment in the executive branch, other than the U.S. Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission, that is not an executive department, military department, or government corporation. Defines "person" as any person regardless of religious affiliation, including corporations and other entities regardless of for-profit or nonprofit status.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] · 37 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), James E. Risch (R-ID), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), James Lankford (R-OK), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Boozman (R-AR), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Barrasso (R-WY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Tim Scott (R-SC), Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] reported raising $2.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s1598.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s1598 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114