Senate votes to move forward on Violence Against Women Act

As expected, the Senate approved the motion to proceed on the Violence Against Women Act by an 85-8 margin once again Monday afternoon, with even some of the most conservative Republicans voting in favor. This version of the bill was slightly revised from what passed the Senate by a 68 to 31 margin last year, with some tweaks to prevent House Republicans from using a procedural argument to justify their refusal to take up the Senate bill.

Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer, who had been the only woman in the Senate not to cosponsor the bill, voted yes. So did Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson and Ohio Republican Rob Portman. Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley took to the floor of the Senate to urge a yes vote on the motion to proceed. But despite that startling level of Republican support for the bill at least getting a vote, its future in the House is in doubt.

To recap, House Republicans have objected to the bipartisan Senate bill because they don't like its protections for immigrants, Native Americans, or LGBT people. They passed their own weakened, exclusionary version of the law last year, with Republican leadership refusing to allow the bipartisan bill that had already passed the Senate to come to a vote.

And that remains the question: Once this bill passes the Senate (and it will, though not until Thursday due to a previously planned Democratic retreat), will John Boehner and Eric Cantor continue blocking a bipartisan bill because it offers legal protections to groups of people they don't like?

Tell Congress to reauthorize the expanded, bipartisan version of the Violence Against Women Act.