While GOP leadership in Congress is trying to avoid another shutdown, fringe Republicans are wanting to hold the government hostage once again, this time over Planned Parenthood.
Hard-right Republicans and conservative evangelicals have taken a hard stance against reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood, saying to defund it or risk another shutdown. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) is helping lead the charge against Planned Parenthood and has said he doesn’t care what the cost is. This hardline stance has put tremendous pressure on GOP leaders.
Republican leaders, who have a fraught relationship with right-wing lawmakers, are concerned about being blamed for a shutdown, particularly after the party vowed to use its biggest majority in the House of Representatives since the 1920s to govern responsibly.
Moderate Republicans could pass a bill to extend public funding with Democratic support, but analysts say the US could slip into a shutdown if party leaders fail in an eleventh-hour effort to agree on concessions to seal the deal.
President Barack Obama said that he will veto any budget designed to defund Planned Parenthood. When that happens, hard right-wingers will place the shutdown at Obama’s feet similarly to what Ted Cruz did two years ago.
For more on this story, visit NPR “Another Government Shutdown Looms At The End Of The Month”
