Sen. Jeff Sessions’ issues with the law, the Violence Against Women Act, may be an insurmountable hurdle for a trio of moderate Democratic senators. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Red-state Democrats turn against Sessions for AG Several of them cite his opposition to domestic violence legislation four years ago.

Red-state Senate Democrats, under political pressure to back Jeff Sessions for attorney general, are rebelling against his nomination to be the nation’s top law enforcement official by citing his opposition to a 2013 domestic violence law that overwhelmingly passed Congress four years ago.

Sessions’ issues with the law, the Violence Against Women Act, may be an insurmountable hurdle for a trio of moderate Democratic senators — Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana — whom pro-Sessions forces have targeted so that one of Donald Trump’s most high-profile Cabinet picks can head to the Justice Department with some bipartisan cover.


The conservative Alabama senator supported previous versions of the Violence Against Women Act, the landmark 1994 law that was first drafted by now-Vice President Joe Biden when he was in the Senate. But Sessions voted against VAWA when it was reauthorized in 2013, when new provisions were included that made it easier to prosecute domestic violence against Native American women.

“I’m really concerned about the position he took,” Heitkamp, whose home state Trump won by 36 points, said in an interview. “The reason he gave was not very knowledgeable about what happens in Indian country and the Indian jurisdiction.”

Sessions won’t need support from Democrats to get confirmed as long as Republicans stick together, thanks to rules changes made by Democrats in 2013. But his allies are angling for at least a handful of votes from moderate Democrats in states Trump won, and a deep-pocketed conservative group has spent more than $500,000 on ads bolstering Sessions that target McCaskill, Heitkamp and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.). All three are expected to face tough reelection bids in 2018.

Heitkamp said she plans to follow up with Sessions to clarify his position regarding VAWA, which came up several times during his marathon confirmation hearing this week. In a separate interview, McCaskill said she has to figure out whether she can “get there” on voting for Sessions and “I’m just not sure I can.”

“I’m really worried about a lot of his votes. [His vote] against the Violence Against Women Act is really concerning to me,” McCaskill said. “I mean, the Department of Justice has taken such a leadership role on that issue over the years, and him voting no on it, you know, it’s just hard for me to get past that.”

Moderate Senate Democrats aren't alone in raising Sessions’ opposition to VAWA as an issue. A host of anti-domestic violence groups have mobilized against his nomination, with the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence calling Sessions “unqualified” to lead DOJ.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee summoned a sexual assault survivor to testify on the second day of Sessions’ confirmation hearing. Opponents take issue not just with Sessions’ record but also with comments he made after a hot-mic tape surfaced of Trump bragging about grabbing women sexually without their consent.

Sessions told The Weekly Standard that “I don’t characterize that as sexual assault” — a remark he said was mischaracterized.

So far, Sessions has picked up one Democratic vote, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who called the Alabama senator “my friend” in a Fox News interview this week.

But that could be the extent of Sessions' backing from Democrats. Donnelly has “concerns” about Sessions’ nomination, an aide said. The Indiana senator met with Sessions on Thursday.

Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman working on behalf of Sessions’ nomination team, pointed to the senator’s past votes to renew the Violence Against Women Act in 2000 and 2005.

“In fact, he voted to strengthen it in 2012 by increasing penalties for sex offenders and dedicating more money to reduce the backlogs of untested rape kits, which is continuing to be an increasingly serious problem in our country,” Flores said. “It's clear Democrats are getting desperate and tying themselves in knots trying to justify their purely political opposition to the next attorney general.”

Multiple Democratic senators pushed Sessions on why he voted against the latest version of the domestic violence law during his marathon confirmation hearing earlier this week. But Republicans also helped bail out Sessions by giving him questions that allowed him to stress his opposition was because of the more obscure tribal provisions.

Responding to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sessions said the measure was controversial because tribal courts would have new power to prosecute non-Native Americans accused of assaulting Native Americans on tribal lands. Several Republicans have said the provision raises constitutional issues.

That “is not constructed in a way that's consistent with the Constitution,” Sessions testified. “We have never done this before.”

Violence against Native American women is a major issue in both Heitkamp's and Tester’s home states. Tester said he pressed Sessions on his opposition to the Violence Against Women Act when he met with Sessions earlier this month on his nomination, as well as the nominee’s support of the PATRIOT Act.

Tester said following his meeting: “I am concerned that he will expand the government's ability to spy on its citizens, refuse to be a voice for survivors of sexual and domestic violence, and will not advocate for important grants, like COPS Grants that help our local police department do the job they are hired to do."