Violence Against Women Act extension could complicate spending bill
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., right, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., left, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. In a bruising setback, Senate Republican leaders shelved a vote on their prized health care bill Tuesday until at least next month, forced to retreat by a GOP rebellion that left them lacking enough votes to even begin debate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
February 13, 2019
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that a potential extension of the Violence Against Women Act has emerged as a bit of a complication to passing the spending package.
“The Speaker is objecting to a modest extension of the Violence Against Women Act,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor.
The protections and programs under VAWA lapsed during the month-long partial government shutdown, but were reinstated in January’s short-term deal to end the shutdown. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed commitment to maintaining the protections and programs under VAWA, but Democrats have pushed for an expansion of the law.
“We can’t let any unrelated, cynically, partisan plays get in the way of finishing this important process,” McConnell said.
McConnell said that Republicans want VAWA extended through the end of the current fiscal year as part of the appropriations package.
It would allow the new chairmen of the relevant committees in the House and Senate to work out a new long-term deal, which means that House Democrats most likely want a longer deal included.
“There are new chairmen this Congress of both the Senate and the House Judiciary Committees, and a modest extension of this authority would allow them to work on a longer-term reauthorization of this important law,” he said.
Pelosi suggested earlier Wednesday morning that provisions to extend the VAWA wouldn’t require separate legislation, but was unclear of the mechanics.
The landmark domestic violence law was set to expire Sept. 30 but was extended through Dec. 7 under the first stopgap spending bill. It was extended again until Dec. 21 in a second short-term bill.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have suggested that reauthorization for a number of months would give lawmakers an opportunity to create a bipartisan reauthorization measure that addresses the shifting needs of communities.
“I believe we can strengthen this act in several ways by addressing changing circumstances since its last reauthorization five years ago by tailoring its language to better fit the needs of our communities. There are provisions we need to change and to work on, but we are not afforded that opportunity,” Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said on the Senate floor following passage of the short-term extension in that chamber last year.
Last summer, House Democrats introduced legislation to expand the scope of the law, to help victims of domestic violence and stalking stay in stable housing situations and to bar evictions based on the actions of an abuser.
The measure also includes an expansion of gun control laws aimed at prohibiting persons convicted of dating violence and stalking, and those under protective orders from possessing firearms. Some states already have so-called red flag laws in place, with the aim of preventing escalation of violence.
The gun provisions were a nonstarter in the Republican-controlled House, but Democrats have pledged to introduce a full reauthorization of the law in the new Congress.
(Kellie Mejdrich contributed to this report.)
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