Congress Returns To Hefty List Of Unfinished Business

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., a vocal opponent of funding Planned Parenthood, said that allowing Obama and Democrats to trigger a government shutdown over the issue shifts the focus to the shutdown and “denies us a critical opportunity to explain why the pro-life position is the compassionate position”. The White Home has threatened to veto the invoice.

“The president has made it very clear he is not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood, so that’s another issue that awaits a new president, hopefully with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood“.

Many Republicans support lifting the spending caps for defense, but Democrats say they will not do that unless other domestic spending gets a lift, too.

A press release states the hearings “will examine the abortion practices of Planned Parenthood, which has been the subject of an ongoing House Judiciary Committee investigation into the organization’s practices”. On the other hand Democrats have rallied behind the president and have votes that will sustain Obama veto. In an nearly annual ritual, Congress has until the end of the year to extend them so taxpayers can claim the tax breaks on their 2015 tax returns.

It is a familiar conflict for Republican leaders who have been forced to navigate intra-party brawls on an increasingly regular basis.

Even more disturbing is one video featuring an interview with Holly O’Donnell, a former employee of StemExpress, one of the tissue companies that worked with Planned Parenthood, who describes questionable techniques used during tissue harvestings.

Judiciary has also asked the Justice Department to launch an independent probe into the group’s practices.

The fire, which started around 3:30 a.m., caused significant damage that may keep the health center closed for a month or more, Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Tanya Riordan said.

“In the end it always gets framed around some hot-button issue in order to take your eyes off the prize” of reducing the nation’s $18 trillion debt, Brat said.

The Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigation a fire that broke out early Friday morning at Planned Parenthood in Pullman.

That external pressure paired with a wave of anti-establishment fervour inspired in part by the continued success of Donald Trump on the campaign trail could give conservatives more confidence in a showdown with party leaders.

The big spending bill will also pose challenges to Republican leaders. Several signers, including Reps. Obama said Saturday that a government shutdown “would be wildly irresponsible” and urged Congress to pass a spending bill that would move beyond the government-wide spending caps called “sequester” that have constrained every federal agency’s budget. He says the only way to win his support for any spending bill is to kill the funds outright.

“This is an appalling act of violence towards Planned Parenthood, but unfortunately a predictable ripple effect from the false and incendiary attacks that fuel violence from extremists”, Karl Eastlund, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, said in a statement.

But Mulvaney and Jordan will have to recruit more than the original 18 letter signers if they plan to derail a CR on their own.

Ahead of the recess, Senate Majority Leader McConnell committed to holding a vote on CISA when the Senate returned for business the second week of September. The money that would have gone to Planned Parenthood can be put in the thousands of community health centers that do not provide abortions but do provide women’s health care for free or at affordable costs and are qualified to receive federal funding.

But as McConnell pointed out, that bill would then be sent to Obama, who would surely still veto the entire package.