By John Gramlich, CQ Staff

Republicans will face a test of unity when the House votes Wednesday on renewing domestic violence programs amid efforts by the White House, Democrats and women’s groups to splinter the majority and defeat the legislation.

There are signs of division in the Republican Conference, particularly among moderates, suggesting the vote may be closer than GOP leaders initially expected. But it appears unlikely that opponents will muster the two dozen Republicans who would need to join united Democratic opposition to defeat the measure.

The bill (HR 4970), sponsored by Sandy Adams, R-Fla., would reauthorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act for five years, a step both Republicans and Democrats say is a priority this year. The original law was written by then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and offers a wide range of services and support to victims of domestic abuse. It has been reauthorized twice, each time with overwhelming bipartisan support.

But the current House bill differs considerably from a reauthorization (S 1925) the Senate passed with bipartisan support last month. It omits new protections for victims of domestic violence who are gay and lesbian, immigrants and American Indians and imposes new rules in domestic violence grant programs.

The bill has drawn fierce opposition from women’s groups and congressional Democrats from the moment it was introduced in late April. Opponents contend it is too onerous on victims and another example of the GOP’s “war on women,” a phrase Democrats have repeatedly employed to denounce the legislation.

The Obama administration has threatened a veto and is pushing Republican leaders to move toward the Senate version. “The administration urges the House to find common ground with the bipartisan Senate-passed bill and consider and pass legislation that will protect all victims,” the White House said in a Statement of Administration Policy.

Late Maneuvering

In an effort to make the legislation more palatable to moderate Republicans, Adams introduced a manager’s amendment Tuesday that jettisoned controversial language related to immigrant victims of domestic abuse.

But some moderates remain uneasy with the measure. Charles Bass of New Hampshire has been working with domestic violence groups in his state and “shares their concerns with the House legislation,” spokeswoman Stephanie DuBois said in an email. “Congressman Bass will continue to encourage a bipartisan agreement like the one that was accomplished in the Senate.”

Bass is among seven House Republicans who wrote to Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, last week urging a “bipartisan reauthorization” of the law and calling for it to “reach all victims and perpetrators of domestic violence,” an apparent reference to the broader language included in the Senate bill.

Rep. Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania Republican who signed the letter, said he has concerns because the measure would scrap new reporting requirements for incidents of domestic violence at colleges and universities. The Senate included the language in its broader measure.

“I’m still studying the bill,” Meehan said. “I am concerned about the removal of provisions which created greater protections for victims of sexual assault and other kinds of violence on college campuses.”

Judy Biggert, an Illinois Republican, is sponsoring a competing version (HR 4982) of the reauthorization that more closely resembles the Senate-passed bill. “Like many, I am very concerned that the current bill, even with changes made in the manager’s amendment, doesn’t reflect everything we’ve learned over the last five years in terms of what works best for prosecutors or victims,” she said in a written statement late Tuesday.