Town hall meetings held over the August break have driven conservatives in the House and Senate to ramp up their efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, which could make passing a critical funding bill this month difficult for Republican leaders.
Some of the conservative Republicans who huddled in a conference call last week tell the Washington Examiner that unless funding legislation strips money from Planned Parenthood, they’ll vote against it, even if it is just a short-term bill.
That makes it an immediate issue for GOP leaders. Federal funding runs out at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, leaving Republicans who run both chambers just a few legislative days to pass a temporary measure to keep the government from shuttering on Oct. 1.
So far, GOP leaders have signaled that they won’t allow the spending bill to be used to carry Planned Parenthood language.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told a Kentucky television station last week that it was not possible to strip funding from the organization as long as President Obama is in the White House. While House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has not announced what he’ll do, he has said repeatedly he would not allow a government shutdown.
But conservatives are disappointed by that response, and say the drive to defund Planned Parenthood has reached a new high, especially after a series of videos was released showing the group’s officials talking about the exchange of fetal body parts for money.
“I spent more time with constituents and people around the state than I ever have, and the anger against the leadership and their unwillingness to stand up on this and other issues is really at the highest level than it has ever been,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., told the Examiner.
In late July, 18 Republican lawmakers signed on to a letter to GOP leaders pledging to vote against any spending bill that allows taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. “I think that number will grow significantly,” Fleming told the Examiner.
The desire to act against Planned Parenthood could put House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in the difficult position of having to secure Democratic votes to pass spending legislation, a tough task given the two sides are at odd over domestic spending levels.
Republicans have a 29 seat advantage and conservatives believe there are many additional GOP lawmakers who will be unwilling to sign onto a spending bill that leaves taxpayer funding intact for Planned Parenthood.
“Congress must stop funding an organization that has, in its own words, unethically changed its medical practices to harvest the organs of unborn babies,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told the Examiner. “We must redirect taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood to the thousands of federally qualified health clinics that provide more, comprehensive services to women and girls.”
Conservative opposition could increase Democratic leverage on spending, which his another tough equation for Republican leaders to solve.
Democrats want to lift mandatory caps on domestic spending, but many fiscal-minded conservatives will reject those increases. If Democrats are needed to pass a spending bill, it could give them the clout to demand spending relief.
Democrats in the House have not signaled whether they would vote for a temporary spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, which leaves funding at 2015 budget levels.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in July called those levels, “a very significant cut in terms of how we meet the needs of the American people.”
Conservative opposition could also make it difficult to pass funding legislation in the Senate, where 60 votes will be needed. Republicans control 54 votes.
Lawmakers on the right, including Sen. David Vitter, who is running for Louisiana governor, are weighing whether to try to defund Planned Parenthood in the government funding legislation through an amendment.
“Federal taxpayer dollars shouldn’t go to Planned Parenthood or any other abortion mill,” Vitter told the Examiner. “I have legislation to prohibit federal family planning funds from being awarded to any grantee that performs abortions, and I’m always looking for opportunities to add it as an amendment.”
Despite this growing pressure, Republican leaders are eager to avoid a spending fight with Democrats and President Obama, who is all but guaranteed to veto a spending bill that strips out Planned Parenthood funding.
Past and current polling has shown the public blames Republicans for spending gridlock and the resulting government closures.
“We’ve been down this path before,” McConnell said in August. “This is a tactic that has been tried going back to the ’90s and it always has the same ending — that the focus is on the government shutdown and not on the underlying issue that is being protested.”
But Republican leaders are feeling constituent pressure about Planned Parenthood, too. At a town hall meeting last month in Spokane, Wa., Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rogers, the highest ranking woman in the House, told constituents Congress should defund Planned Parenthood if they refuse to participate in a congressional investigation.
According to the Spokesman-Review newspaper, the comment received “prolonged applause.”
