The head of the Senate Appropriations Committee projected skepticism Monday that a measure to defund Planned Parenthood could get included in a massive appropriations bill the Senate is considering this week.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that, while the amendment itself hasn’t been debated yet, it might be received negatively.
“What we are trying to do is move our bills, and that could be a spoiler,” Shelby told reporters Monday.
Bipartisan appropriations negotiators have been reticent to add “poison pill” amendments to the appropriations bill that could imperil final support.
The Senate is expected to start debate this week on an appropriations bill that includes funding for defense and several federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Monday he wants to introduce an amendment that would defund Planned Parenthood, a major Republican goal that has been unfulfilled due in part to Democratic opposition in the Senate.
Shelby cited a separate amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would have prohibited the District of Columbia from creating its own health insurance individual mandate as an example of an amendment that could make bipartisan support of the entire package problematic. The amendment was defeated 54-44 thanks to Republican opposition.
“That would have derailed it, that was why a lot of us voted the other way,” he said.
Shelby didn’t rule out a vote on Paul’s amendment on Planned Parenthood, which gets about $500 million a year in federal funds. He said that Senate leadership is planning several votes for Tuesday but the Planned Parenthood amendment was not one of them.
“That could change,” Shelby said.
Senate Republicans previously tried to defund Planned Parenthood as part of their Obamacare repeal bill. Those efforts failed last year because they would have needed 60 votes, a tall order for the GOP, with its slim majority.
