House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Democrats are ready and willing to work with Republican leaders to help pass a measure to keep the government open, but said the GOP has not reached out to them yet.
Hoyer, D-Md., said he fully expects Democrats to vote with the GOP to pass what will likely be a short-term funding measure needed to keep money flowing to the government beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
“There is no doubt in my view that we can get the votes,” Hoyer told reporters.
But Democrats have set conditions for their support, Hoyer said. The legislation would have to exclude language that would defund Planned Parenthood, which has come under fire over secretly recorded videos that show officials appearing to discuss the sale of body parts.
Additionally, the bill would have to fund domestic spending above the spending caps mandated by the 2012 Budget Control Act.
Republicans are expected in the coming days to produce a short-term bill, or continuing resolution, to keep the government beyond the end of the month.
Dozens of House conservatives have pledged to vote against a funding bill that includes money for Planned Parenthood. But Democrats and President Obama won’t support legislation that strips money from the organization.
Republican leaders are now looking for a way to pass a spending bill that can either win over conservatives or garner the support of enough Democrats to pass.
Hoyer said Democrats would be ready to step in and pass legislation, “assuming the funding levels are appropriate and their are no poison pills.”
Hoyer said he has not had a conversation with Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, about the government spending bill, nor have the top Democrats on the Appropriations or tax writing panels heard form their GOP counterparts.
“I have no idea substantively, what the Republicans are proposing to move forward by Sept. 30 that will fund the government of the United States,” Hoyer said.
Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she has spoken to Boehner in a general way about government funding legislation, but not in any detail. Democrats are demanding bipartisan budget talks to work out a plan to fund the 2016 federal budget, but Republicans have refused, pointing out that they passed a budget plan in both chambers.
