Obama presses for funding bill amid Republican disarray
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to avoid a government shutdown starting Oct. 1, as Republican leaders in the House of Representatives struggled to find a way to get enough votes to pass a funding bill.
Efforts were complicated by some conservatives who want to punish the women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood and attach language denying any federal funds to the group as part of a broader bill keeping the government running beyond Sept. 30.
The group faces allegations, which it denies, that it improperly sold fetal tissue from abortions.
"Democrats are ready to sit down and negotiate with Republicans right now...but it should be over legitimate questions of spending and revenue, not unrelated ideological issues," Obama told the Business Roundtable.
With only a handful of congressional work days remaining, House of Representatives Speaker John 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 without funding for Planned Parenthood, 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 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, who was 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, which she called "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 fellow conservatives and advances a funding bill without controversial riders, he would have to rely on House Democrats for some of the votes needed for passage.
That could spark a rebellion among House conservatives, who for years have flirted with dumping Boehner as speaker.
Boehner, as recently as last week, has insisted he has "broad" support for continuing as speaker.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Mohammad Zargham and David Gregorio)
