The Senate Wednesday was at an impasse over a bipartisan human trafficking bill that Democrats are threatening to block on Thursday because of abortion language they recently discovered in the legislation.
Senate leaders hoped to wrap up debate this week on the legislation so they could move to the confirmation vote of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch next week. A critical vote to end debate on the bill is scheduled for Thursday.
But the bill now faces a filibuster from Democrats, who discovered language in the legislation that would prohibit use of $30 million in annual restitution money included in the bill for abortions.
Democrats said they believe Republicans snuck the provision into the bill and are threatening to filibuster a motion to end debate.
Democrats object to using the abortion language in non-appropriations legislation, which is where it has typically been used since 1974.
“Why don’t Republicans just take the abortion language out of a bill that has nothing to do with abortion?” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor. “If the abortion language were taken out of this bill which has nothing to do with abortion, the bill would almost certainly pass on a strong bipartisan vote.”
But Republicans blame Democrats for not reading the legislation before co-sponsoring it and approving it unanimously in committee earlier this month.
“Of course, it was filed in January, and made public to the world,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas. “If anybody thought that it was hidden, it was hidden in plain sight for anybody who cared to read it.”
Cornyn said the bill maintains the status quo when it comes to a longtime prohibition on using federal funds for abortion. “This doesn’t change anything that has been the law of the land.”
Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota, a Senate GOP leader, said Democrats and Republicans are talking behind closed doors.
“There are some discussions going on and hopefully they will find a path forward,” Thune said.
