Jim Jordan, chairman of the 176-member Republican Study Committee, is leading an effort by conservatives to press House leaders for floor votes in opposition to gay marriage.

Jordan’s first project is a draft proposal that would set up a referendum to overturn a year-old District of Columbia law recognizing marriages of gay and lesbian couples. The move comes as conservatives express a desire to move beyond a focus on spending cuts and expand the House majority’s legislative agenda to include social issues.

The Supreme Court declined in January to take up a case aimed at clearing the way for a referendum to ban gay marriage in the nation’s capital. City officials have blocked the referendum on the grounds that it would violate a city human rights law.

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Jordan said he expects the draft measure to draw strong support from House Republicans. He and other conservatives say they are weighing how best to promote the vote as an example of Republicans fulfilling a campaign promise. The GOP’s 2010 Pledge to America vowed that a Republican majority would “honor families, traditional marriage, life and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values.”

There is little doubt that the social policy measures Jordan and the RSC have in mind would face strong opposition in the Democrat-controlled Senate and in the White House. Still, the idea of promoting such an agenda is gaining traction among House conservatives and possible GOP presidential aspirants, including former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., founder of the House’s Tea Party Caucus.

House Republican leaders remain uncommitted about when and whether to allow such votes during this Congress.

Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio has aligned with social conservatives by promising to move a proposed ban (HR 3) on the use of federal funds or tax credits to pay for abortions or for health insurance that covers abortion.

But several lawmakers said Boehner has resisted making a similar commitment to press measures in opposition to gay marriage.

The Speaker skirted demands from conservatives earlier this month for a vote on a proposal to instruct House lawyers to defend a provision in the 1996 Defense of Marriage (PL 104-199) that directs the government to recognize marriages only between men and women.

The Obama administration announced in February it will no longer defend that provision of the law from court challenges.

Boehner sidestepped a floor vote by asking a House legal advisory group to look into the matter, and then directing House attorneys to defend the law.

Jordan says he will press for a floor vote to allow fellow conservatives to make clear their opposition to gay marriage. “We want to advance marriage. That’s the pledge. Our party should be all about defending marriage as it has always been defined,” he said.

Reps. Steve King of Iowa and Vicky Hartzler of Missouri have also been calling for floor action to demonstrate opposition to gay marriage. Hartzler has gathered 98 cosponsors for a resolution condemning the Obama administration’s decision to stop defending restrictions on gay marriage.