As the legislative branch of the federal government, Congress controls the funding necessary to carry out the laws it enacts. That critical role carries with it some housekeeping: namely, that it must release the money it has committed to spending. Failing to do so means that many of the government’s more than 450 agencies comprising nearly 3 million employees cannot carry out their duties, or be paid. If Congress is going to risk such an episode, there had better be a good reason.
In this latest round of funding brinksmanship, the reasoning is reprehensible: to punish Planned Parenthood. Republicans in the Senate, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the helm, plan to attach a rider that would strip funding for Planned Parenthood to the continuing resolution lawmakers needed to fund government operations beginning Oct. 1 – even though a stand-alone measure aiming to defund the health care provider already failed in the Senate. McConnell’s rider would gladly restore the funding if Planned Parenthood can assure Congress that it does not perform abortions at any of its facilities – never mind that no federal dollars pay for abortions, but rather fund preventive services like cancer screenings and routine examinations. Put simply, those federal dollars save women’s lives.
While it is no secret that Planned Parenthood provides abortions, that is a small fraction of the organization’s services, and wholly legal. McConnell and his supporters are playing chicken with the federal budget and devaluing the critical work of a well-respected organization.
The effort will surely fail, given that Democrats have promised to filibuster any vote that contains the de-funding rider but the amount of traction gained by those determined to shame and shun Planned Parenthood is alarming – particularly given what should be the procedural, not political, nature of a continuing resolution vote. A government shutdown should not be on the table.
To that end, Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Denver, and Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, have a resolution of their own. It lays out a Senate schedule that a shutdown would trigger, requiring senators’ constant presence on the Senate floor until the government reopened – meaning lawmakers could not escape to their home states. Further, should a majority of senators not show up during the shutdown, Bennet’s and Gardner’s resolution would authorize the Senate sergeant at arms to issue arrest warrants for the truants.
Though the resolution stands as little chance of passing as the Planned Parenthood rider, Bennet and Gardner are making a statement worth supporting. “Responsible governing bodies do not shut themselves down over political disputes. Coloradans count on their elected officials to do their jobs, and part of those jobs is ensuring a functioning government,” Gardner said in a news release. For his part, Bennet expressed an earned weariness. “Washington’s habit of turning routine responsibilities into manufactured crises has to end. This type of political theater is hurting our economy and competitiveness,” he said.
They are both right, and Congress’ job is to keep the lights on, not to slap organizations that provide essential and affordable health care services nationwide because some lawmakers do not support other aspects – all of them legal – of Planned Parenthood’s operations.
