Current Public Policy Initiatives

Budget

Congress is currently working to pass an FY27 Budget ahead of the beginning of the federal financial year on October 1st, 2026. It is unlikely that the budget will be completed by this date, and it is expected that the federal government will operate under a Continuing Resolution (CR) until the budget is passed. If no agreement is reached on a CR, the government will shut down.

Sen. Graham is the current Chair of the Senate Budget Committee & sits on appropriations committees including both CJS and LHHS.

Commerce, Justice & Science (CJS) considers the following funding sources that are administered by the Department of Justice:

  • Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) 
  • Violence Against Women Act (multiple grant programs including STOP (Services, Training, Officers & Prosecutors), Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP), Legal Assistance to Victims (LAV) 

Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS)

  • Family Violence & Prevention Services Act
  • Rape, Prevention & Education

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD)

  • Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Bonus Funds in HUD

Grant Administration

Federal funding is critical to ensuring survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault can access lifesaving services and support. When funding is delayed, programs are left without the resources needed to operate, leading to reduced services, staff shortages, or even program closures – putting survivors’ safety and stability at risk. 

Domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and other programs serving survivors have been experiencing delays in federal funding across core funding for the field, including FVPSA and VAWA funding. This instability is forcing programs to consider staffing reductions, reduced services for survivors, and, in some cases, program closures.

Purple graphic with text "Over the past year, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and other programs serving survivors have experienced funding delays. Further delays will force programs to lay off staff, reduce services for survivors, and close their doors, leaving survivors with nowhere to go. Survivors deserve better. Congress must act now.
Purple graphic with text "Family Violence Prevention and Services Act funding applications should have been released six months ago. Office on Violence Against Women discretionary grant funding is more than seven months late. These delays jeopardize programs' existence and survivors' lives. Survivors deserve better. Congress must act now.

Defiance (Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits) Act

In January 2026, the Senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation allowing victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes to sue creators and distributors of this image-based sexual abuse and levies fines of up to $250,000 per violation. This is the second time the Senate has passed the bill.

Co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (IL) and Lindsey Graham (SC), the Defiance Act now advances to the House of Representatives where it has not moved forward.

A deepfake is an image or video created using artificial intelligence (AI) that has been altered to misrepresent someone doing or saying something they did not do. Over 90% of online deepfakes are nonconsensual sexual content and nearly all victims are women.