White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that the administration remains hopeful that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will pass both the Senate and House.
“We will continue to fight for this legislation to move through,” Carney said during a press briefing. “Support for this is overwhelming.”
Carney said that the president is hopeful that ENDA will pass in the Senate as early as tonight. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) announced Monday that he would support the bill, making it likely that the legislation would overcome a filibuster with 60 votes.
While House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) came out against ENDA on Monday, Carney argued that Boehner’s disapproval does not necessarily mean the bill was dead. Carney noted that the Violence Against Women Act was granted a vote without full support of the GOP caucus.
“We will prevail as a country on this issue,” Carney said.
Carney also said that President Obama would prefer to see Congress pass ENDA, rather than signing an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, because the bill would be more “inclusive.”
