--- title: Sen. Ted Cruz to Introduce Constitutional Amendment on Marriage Rights description: The senator called the Supreme Court's decision today "judicial activism at its worst" canonical: https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-06T21:39:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:37:23.610Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sen. Ted Cruz to Introduce Constitutional Amendment on Marriage Rights og:description: The senator called the Supreme Court's decision today "judicial activism at its worst" og:url: https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a55e0e487b22703/6986a741cd6848998f096db1/456137960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Conservatives Gather For Voter Values Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen. Ted Cruz to Introduce Constitutional Amendment on Marriage Rights twitter:description: The senator called the Supreme Court's decision today "judicial activism at its worst" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a55e0e487b22703/6986a741cd6848998f096db1/456137960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz: We Must Amend U.S. Constitution to Defend Marriage > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5b1fa525-2426-4563-adb5-07dde43380da&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Oct 6, 2014 9:39 PM UTC  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at the 2014 Values Voter Summit, Sept. 26, 2014 in Washington, DC. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at the 2014 Values Voter Summit, Sept. 26, 2014 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Oct 6, 2014 9:39 PM UTC Senator Ted Cruz (R—Tex.) announced Monday that he will introduce [a constitutional amendment](http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press%5Frelease&id=1777) barring the federal government and the courts from overturning state marriage laws. The announcement follows [the Supreme Court’s decision](http://time.com/3474875/high-court-denies-gay-marriage-appeals/) Monday to reject the appeals requests of five states seeking to outlaw same-sex marriages, permitting gay unions to go ahead in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. “By refusing to rule if the States can define marriage, the Supreme Court is abdicating its duty to uphold the Constitution,” Cruz said in a statement. “The fact that the Supreme Court Justices, without providing any explanation whatsoever, have permitted lower courts to strike down so many state marriage laws is astonishing.” Cruz described the court’s denial of appeals, which paves the away for [an expansion of legalized same-sex marriage](http://time.com/3474875/high-court-denies-gay-marriage-appeals/) to as many as 30 states, as “judicial activism at its worst” and “a broad interpretation of the 14th Amendment” guaranteeing equal protection under the law, with “far-reaching consequences.” The Texas Republican isn’t the first to propose amending the constitution over same-sex marriage. In 2013, following the Supreme Court’s striking down of the Defense of Marriage Act, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R.-Kan.) [introduced legislation](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/tim-huelskamp-gay-marriage%5Fn%5F3529842.html) for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (formerly R-Va.) proposed a similar amendment back in 2006. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz: We Must Amend U.S. Constitution to Defend Marriage","datePublished":"2014-10-06T21:39:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:37:23.610Z","description":"The Texas senator called the Supreme Court's rejection of appeals to uphold same-sex marriage bans in five states \"judicial activism at its worst\"","url":"https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/","keywords":["Senate","Gay Marriage","Congress","politics","Marriage Equality","LGBT","Courts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a55e0e487b22703/6986a741cd6848998f096db1/456137960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a55e0e487b22703/6986a741cd6848998f096db1/456137960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Conservatives Gather For Voter Values Summit","caption":"Conservatives Gather For Voter Values Summit","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3476241/ted-cruz-constitutional-amendment-same-sex-marriage-laws/","name":"Ted Cruz: We Must Amend U.S. Constitution to Defend Marriage"}}]}] ```