After a year of cross-cameral squabbling over the expired Violence Against Women Act, the U.S. House on Thursday put its seal of approval on the law’s reauthorization.
For House Republicans, who have long opposed expanded protections for Native American and LGBT victims of domestic violence, the vote was an embarrassing, caucus-splitting retreat. And for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), whose version of the bill now goes straight to the president, it was a big win.
Speaking on the Senate floor just after the House approved the legislation 286 to 138, Leahy said, “Having worked on this for a couple years, I am very happy that the Senate has done what it should do, the House has done what it should do, and perhaps we’ve taken — and I believe we’ve taken — a major step to protect women against violence.”
Politically speaking, Thursday’s vote was a little screwy.
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