Senate Called on to Nix Domestic Violence Services Cuts in Trump Bill

WASHINGTON — Members of the Bipartisan Working Group to End Domestic Violence gathered outside the Capitol on Thursday to call for a “day of action” against dramatic cuts to federal funding for domestic violence programs included in the Big Beautiful Bill Act currently working its way through Congress.

The bill passed in the House of Representatives by one vote, 215-214, on May 22, after two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, and Warren Davidson, of Ohio, joined Democrats in voting against it.

The legislation is now in the Senate where Republican leaders hope to hold a vote and pass the bill in that chamber by July 4.

But members of the working group, a House caucus established in 2018 to bring together members of Congress and key stakeholders to end domestic violence, are calling for significant changes to the bill before that happens.

Chief among their concerns are proposed dramatic cuts to federal funding for the National Center for Injury Prevention that would gut the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances and Rape Prevention and Education programs — both of which support domestic violence prevention programs nationwide.

The Trump administration has said passage of the bill is critical to extending his 2017 tax cuts and advancing his legislative agenda, which includes sharply reducing the size of the federal government and the scope of services it provides.

“Victims’ service organizations play a critical role in ensuring that survivors and their families have access to the resources they need,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said to reporters. “It is not an exaggeration to say that they save lives every single day.”

Historically, domestic violence prevention has had bipartisan support. Dingell shared her own experience with domestic violence in a plea to restore funding.

“To this day, I’ll never forget getting in the middle of a dispute between my father and my mother — keeping my father from killing my mother — and hiding in closets praying to God, ‘please let us live, please let us live,’” Dingell said. “That is not okay in America, and it should never, ever, ever happen again.”

According to a report by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 77,000 people received services from local programs in a single day in 2023. Thirteen thousand more requests could not be met because of a lack of resources.

“The proposed deep funding cuts will directly affect the critical services that survivors depend on,” said Stephanie Love-Patterson, NNEDV president and CEO, in a written statement.

“Survivors need the lifesaving services programs provide, and many of them are already under-resourced, leaving service providers struggling to meet the overwhelming demand for help,” she added.

In recent weeks, the working group has been seeking clarity from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice on their plans for grants they oversee and urged them to oppose cuts and force reductions.

Without a clear understanding of how federal funding cuts will impact their work, domestic violence support providers that rely on federal funding are struggling to provide services, the group says.

Among other things, the lawmakers who crafted the bill are proposing cuts to SNAP benefits.

Advocacy groups claim that these proposed cuts will make escaping domestic violence situations more difficult, especially for low-income women.

“We know that should the bill go through with all of the cuts that are proposed to SNAP, Medicaid and even Medicare, that we see it reflected in an increase in domestic violence,” Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., said to reporters.

The Violence Against Women Act, which provided protections and support for domestic violence survivors, was originally authored by then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1994. Moore claimed that funding cuts to domestic violence programs are a part of the Trump administration’s “retribution tour.”