Obama presses for U.S. funding bill amid Republican disarray

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to avoid shutting down the government starting on Oct. 1, as Republicans in the House of Representatives struggled to get enough votes to pass a bill to fund it.

Some conservatives want to punish women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood by denying the group federal funds. Their efforts to attach it to a broader funding bill are complicating a bid to keep the government running.

Conservative Republicans are watching how the battle plays out. Some said it could help determine whether Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, retains his job.

"We're having a discussion now about the future leadership of the party," Representative Mick Mulvaney told reporters.

Planned Parenthood faces allegations, which it denies, of improperly selling fetal tissue from abortions.

"Democrats are ready to sit down and negotiate with Republicans ... but it should be over legitimate questions of spending and revenue, not unrelated ideological issues," Obama told the Business Roundtable.

With a handful of work days remaining, Boehner is in a tight spot, similar to one that resulted in a 17-day government shutdown in October 2013. Then, a group of conservatives, trying to kill Obama's landmark healthcare law, hung up an emergency spending bill.

Now, the issue is Planned Parenthood, which gets over $500 million a year in federal money, although none of it for abortions.

If Boehner endorses a spending bill prohibiting Planned Parenthood funds, he could push the government into shutdown because Obama and his fellow Democrats oppose the prohibition.

Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been trying to avoid such a showdown, fearing voters in the November 2016 election will blame them and their fellow Republicans for another round of Washington chaos.

McConnell told reporters: "We're not going to engage in exercises in futility," adding, "We know the president will not sign such a bill."

Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a House member during the 2013 government shutdown, told Reuters she would do "everything I can in my power" to avoid a repeat of that episode, calling it "a total disservice and misery."

She said constituents were calling her office during the shutdown to ask why veterans' benefits had not been mailed.

If Boehner snubs conservatives and advances a funding bill without controversial riders, he would have to rely on Democrats for enough votes needed for passage.

That could spark rebellion among some conservatives, who have long flirted with dumping Boehner. Boehner insists he has broad support.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Howard Goller)