The Senate will vote Monday evening on a procedural motion to bring up legislation to strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood, but the Republican push to debate the bill is expected to fail.
Planned Parenthood has come under intense scrutiny after an anti-abortion group released a series of videos it says shows that the nonprofit group is making money off of the sale of fetal tissue, a practice the group denies.
The battle over barring federal money for the group will shift next to the legislation to fund the government this fall. Conservatives in both the House and Senate are demanding that their leaders attach a provision to any spending bill to block additional federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood.
Federal agencies run out of money at the end of September, and Congress is expected to take up some type of short-term spending bill next month.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, appearing on CNN’s “New Day” on Monday, said that he has not viewed the videos. But he added, “what the President has said is that Planned Parenthood provides valuable services, health care services for men and women across the country. He would veto any legislation that tried to advance wholesale defunding for Planned Parenthood.”
Republicans on Capitol Hill have clashed with President Barack Obama over federal money for Planned Parenthood before.
In 2011, House Republicans passed a spending bill that stripped money for Planned Parenthood, and the fight over the issue came close to causing a government shutdown. Right before the deadline, House Speaker John Boehner negotiated a compromise that didn’t include a defunding provision.
GOP Sen. Rand Paul, who pressed Senate leaders for the vote on Planned Parenthood this week, was reluctant to draw a line in the sand.
The Kentucky senator told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday “I support any legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood. But (I) don’t think you start out with your objective to shut down government.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also a Kentucky Republican, declined to rule out attaching a provision to the spending bill in September, telling reporters last week, “We’re going to discuss how to fund the government after the recess.”
Boehner has emphasized that multiple congressional committees are launching investigations into the videos and said he is awaiting more facts before deciding any next steps.