We should not be running our government with last minute votes before deadlines and especially when these bills are thrown together by the Senate that refuses take up legislation passed in regular order by the House.
Advertisement
The House voted 277-151 in favor of the bill, which was approved by the Senate on Wednesday in a 78-20 vote, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mr Boehner faced political backlash from the most conservative Republicans for bringing a bill to the floor that retained funding for Planned Parenthood and could only pass with the help of Democrats.
“It would be utterly reckless to let the government shut down for any reason, regardless of your feeling about Planned Parenthood“, Rep. Charles Dent, R-Conn., and chairman of the House Appropriations Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee. Having dodged the immediate threat of a government shutdown, congressional Republican leaders are looking ahead to talks with President Obama on a long-term budget pact.
“It looks like the Republicans will just barely avoid shutting down the government for the second time in two years“, he told state Democrats at the White House. “They have no place in our society, and that federal tax dollars should actually go to fund an institution that harvests baby body parts for sale is absolutely asinine”.
In addition, the funding fight over Planned Parenthood doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon. President Barack Obama signed the bill, averting a government shutdown Wednesday night.
“We witness yet another attack by a few of my colleagues who are obsessed with ending access to Planned Parenthood, a trusted health care provider in my community”, said Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), addressing Congress Tuesday.
“There’s a number of issues we’re going to try to deal with over the coming month”, Boehner said this week.
“What I think was awful optics was five hours of haranguing and grilling Cecile Richards yesterday and not barely letting her get a word in edgewise where she was explaining very clearly what Planned Parenthood does, who Planned Parenthood serves and why Planned Parenthood is so important to the women, men and families of this country”, Laguens said. Democrats demanding a new budget deal have blocked work in the Senate, while a fight over the Confederate flag halted work in the House with only six of the 12 annual spending bills having passed.
At issue in the negotiations is how much to spend on the government operations.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hailed the action in the morning, saying it was a step toward getting the Senate to function properly again.
Even so, opponents of the non-profit want funding stopped – particularly after a series of edited, undercover footage featuring Planned Parenthood officials came out – and a full investigation of the organization.
Advertisement
Republicans are seeking an increase in defense spending, while Obama will press for similar hikes for domestic programs.
