House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to avert a government shutdown, Republican leaders drove a bill blocking Planned Parenthood's federal funds through the House on Friday, hoping to contain conservatives' demands for a politically risky showdown with President Barack Obama by striking a quick blow against abortion. 
 
 The nearly party-line 241-187 vote followed a no-holds-barred debate that included a graphic, poster-sized photo of a scarred, aborted fetus and underscored how abortion has resurfaced as a white-hot political issue. The battle has been rejoined just in time for the 2016 election campaign and next week's historic address to Congress by Pope Francis. 
 
 The issue's re-emergence followed the release of secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials offhandedly discussing how they sometimes procure tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research. 
 
 "What does it say about this Congress that today we're here on the House floor debating the killing and harvesting of aborted babies?" said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind. "How can there possibly be two sides to this?" 
 
 But Democrats said the true GOP goal was to whip up conservative voters with legislation that would make it harder for women to get health care. Planned Parenthood, whose clinics provide sexual disease tests, contraception and abortion, says it's done nothing illegal and is being victimized by misleadingly edited videos. 
 
 "Enough is enough," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who chairs the Democratic National Committee. "Some of their members are willing to risk women's lives just to score political points." 
 
 Planned Parenthood gets around $450 million yearly in federal payments, mostly Medicaid reimbursements for handling low-income patients. That's around one-third of the organization's $1.3 billion annual budget. Practically none of the federal money can be used for abortions. 
 
 Beyond Friday's bill, some conservatives want to attach language halting Planned Parenthood's payments to broader legislation financing government agencies, which otherwise run out of money next Thursday. Those Republicans say a government shutdown fight would at least produce a veto battle that would show voters where Republicans stand. 
 
 House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, a long-time abortion foe, and virtually all House Republicans favor halting the flow of federal dollars to Planned Parenthood. But Boehner and other GOP leaders say a shutdown battle would be fruitless because they lack enough votes to prevail in the Senate or overcome an Obama veto. They also say voters oppose a shutdown and would punish the GOP in next year's elections if one occurred. 
 
 Long unhappy with Boehner and other GOP leaders for not being confrontational enough, some in his party have threatened to force a House vote on removing him from his post if he backs down on this or other upcoming fights over federal borrowing and spending. 
 
 The legislation that was voted on Friday, proposed by Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., would end federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year, diverting the money to thousands of community health centers. Republicans say those clinics could handle the displaced Planned Parenthood patients, but Democrats say the centers are overburdened and sometimes distant. 
 
 Pressure from conservatives may ultimately force leaders to let Congress vote anyway on a bill that would avert a shutdown only if Planned Parenthood's federal dollars were stopped, a measure certain to die in the Senate. Once defeated, that would likely be followed by a measure temporarily financing government, perhaps into December, that would include Planned Parenthood funds and buy time to resolve disputes over spending, abortion and other issues. 
 
 For now, Republican leaders are hoping that investigations by four congressional committees and other anti-abortion bills will relieve some of the pressure. 
 
 Along those lines, the House voted 248-177 Friday for another measure, this one by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., that would impose penalties of up to five years in prison plus fines on doctors who don't try to save infants born alive during abortions. 
 
 And the Senate set a vote for Tuesday on a measure banning most late-term abortions, a bill that Democrats were poised to scuttle. Both of those bills also would face likely Senate defeat and an Obama veto threat. 
 
 In Friday's House debate, both sides showed they had plenty of steam on the issue. 
 
 Franks, who brought the fetus poster to the floor, said Congress' response to the Planned Parenthood videos "is vital to everything those lying out in Arlington Cemetery died to save." 
 
 And House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., asked, "In the face of these videos, with all the alternatives women have for health, why would you want to force your constituents to pay for something so evil?" 
 
 Firing back, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said Republicans' were relying on deceptively edited videos and had "manufactured a witch hunt." Added Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., "Stop being so mean. Solve problems, do not create them." ||||| The same Republicans who campaigned on doing away with legislative crises are careening toward government shutdown in less than two weeks with still no concrete plan to stop it. 
 
 It’s not that Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) leadership team is hiding their best hand. They have no trick up their sleeve, no ace in the hole — pick your cliché. Nearly everyone in House and Senate leadership recognizes a simple reality: At some point in the next two weeks, they will move on a bill free of provisions to strip Planned Parenthood of its government funding. It just depends how long it takes, how painful it is and whether Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) team stumbles into their second government shutdown in three years. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Twelve days remain until the government runs out of money, but the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session for just a fraction of that time. The showdown over Planned Parenthood is the epitome of crisis-fueled legislating. Senior Republican lawmakers and aides increasingly believe that the funding fight will come down to three-day dash – Sept. 28 through Sept. 30, the final day of the fiscal year. 
 
 Asked Wednesday when his colleagues would get a glimpse at his bill to fund the government, Boehner said, “At some point.” 
 
 Several House Republicans lawmakers said they don't expect to vote before the week of Sept. 30. The House is only scheduled to be in session three days that week before the government runs out of money. 
 
 To top it off, the endgame will almost certainly result in a referendum on Boehner’s speakership. He's favored, but not guaranteed, to survive. But if he does it will be in a further weakened state. 
 
 The path the funding fight will take is not yet clear to either Boehner or McConnell, according to senior aides to both men. But it’s shaping up to be extraordinarily messy. 
 
 Top aides to McConnell and Boehner have been in close contact, discussing who will move first to pass a funding bill in their chamber. But the House has been paralyzed with indecision. A pack of House Republicans – mostly on Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) whip team – are worried about the expectations that will be set by passing a funding bill that strips funding from Planned Parenthood, only to relent in the end. Yet other forces in the conference want a vote on such a continuing resolution – and it’s possible, yet hardly certain, that GOP leadership will set one up for next week. 
 
 House Republicans want to be first to move a funding bill, but McConnell is setting up his own process – a sign of how slow the House has been to take action. 
 
 McConnell is nearly certain to bring up a so-called CR to fund the government next week that includes the language to defund Planned Parenthood, but Democrats will block its consideration. McConnell will then move a funding bill free of legislative riders. Republican leaders believe conservatives, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will block it, but McConnell will be able to send it to the House by Sept. 29 at the latest. The Senate's plan could be put on hold if the House gets its act togther, aides caution. 
 
 The House is also trying to send other anti-abortion measures to Obama’s desk and are considering standalone bills, including one to defund Planned Parenthood that would ride alongside the government funding bill, but not impede its passage in the Senate. If the House hasn’t passed a "clean" bill by Sept. 29, it will have one day to avoid a government shutdown by passing the Senate’s bill, or a comparable measure. 
 
 “At some point in time you have to face reality,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a member of the Appropriations Committee who is close to Boehner, speaking about the need to pass a clean bill. “People say, ‘Oh, you didn't even try to do x.’ There are some things you can't do. We tried to repeal Obamacare 50-some odd times in the House and guess what? It didn't work. We probably should have figured that out after two or three.” 
 
 House Republican leaders, meanwhile, are working behind the scenes to try to calm the troops. McCarthy and Scalise have privately told Republicans that they will try to use the majority-vote reconciliation process to deny funding to the women’s health group — they say that is the best way to get a bill to President Barack Obama's desk. GOP leaders have urged anti-abortion groups to speak out against a shutdown. 
 
 At a closed party-wide meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Thursday morning, GOP leaders presented lawmakers with an internal National Republican Congressional Committee poll showing overwhelming public opposition to shutting down the government to stop funding Planned Parenthood. The poll, conducted in 18 swing districts by the GOP firm The Tarrance Group, showed 64 percent of respondents would not favor a shutdown to try to stop the organization’s federal funding, compared to 30 percent who favor shutting the government. Among those who had seen videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue sales, 55 percent did not favor a shutdown, while 37 percent thought it was the right move. 
 
 “We want to be more strategic because I think we are on more solid ground right now than we have before in raising these issues,” Rep. John Shimkus said (R-Ill.), who has a long record opposing abortion rights. “But there are some that say, 'Not a penny.' So, leadership is trying to work it out.” 
 
 While much of this fight is about the government’s purported support of abortion, there’s a hefty anti-Boehner sentiment that’s spurring the opposition to the leadership’s plans. After Congress clears a clean government-funding bill, Boehner and McCarthy aides expect a hard-line conservative to put forward a motion that would, if successful, force the Ohio Republican from the speaker’s chair. 
 
 Republican leaders do not expect the so-called motion to vacate, first filed by North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, to succeed. They say they would handily defeat it if it came to the floor. "Team Boehner," as it is called internally, is not actively preparing for the vote by whipping support in the GOP conference. 
 
 But some of his allies privately say they have informally secured assurances from Democrats that they would support keeping Boehner as speaker, or vote present, which would lower the vote threshold. If all Democrats voted present, Boehner could win with as few as 124 Republicans. Recently, Boehner has even told some Republicans privately he would like to run for another term as speaker. 
 
 Those looking to oust Boehner have not put forward an alternative to serve as speaker, and senior GOP leadership aides say the hardliners have no alternative for when the Senate and president reject their plan to defund Planned Parenthood. For example, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Florida Rep. Daniel Webster could be the next speaker because he got “12 times as many votes as Kevin McCarthy.” McCarthy did not campaign for the job earlier this year. Webster garnered 12 votes total. 
 
 “The Sept. 30 crisis is a crisis of our leadership's making,” Massie said. “They refuse to pass appropriations bills. Even the CR is not the way the government is supposed to be run. The American public knows that. What we need to do is get back to regular order.” 
 
 --John Bresnahan contributed to this report 
 
 
 
 Authors: ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans pushed bills targeting Planned Parenthood and curbing some abortion procedures toward House passage Friday, with party leaders hoping the legislation will help mollify fractious conservatives demanding a face-off with President Barack Obama that could trigger a federal shutdown. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi... (Associated Press) 
 
 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Neither measure has much chance of becoming law, since Democrats have the votes to block them in the Senate and the White House has threatened vetoes. But Republicans pushed ahead anyway, citing secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood officials casually describing how they provide researchers with tissue from aborted fetuses. 
 
 One of the measures would block Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year, while the other would inflict criminal penalties on doctors who don't try saving infants born alive during abortions. As Friday's debate raged, it underscored how the fight over abortion could affect next year's elections. It's an emotional hotspot among each side's most loyal partisans and could be pivotal as each party seeks female voters. 
 
 Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., sponsor of the bill imposing criminal penalties on doctors, defended his legislation as he stood beside a poster-sized photo of a scarred, aborted fetus that survived. 
 
 "Our response as a people and a nation to these horrors shown in these videos is vital to everything those lying out in Arlington Cemetery died to save," Franks said. 
 
 Democrats said Franks' measure was unneeded because clinicians allowing born-alive babies to die would face murder charges. They said the GOP legislation had other goals. 
 
 "It's real intent is to further undermine a woman's right to choose," said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif. 
 
 The anti-abortion activists who secretly recorded the videos say they show that Planned Parenthood is illegally profiting from organ sales. The organization says it's broken no laws and is being maligned by deceitfully edited recordings. 
 
 The White House, in a statement released Thursday evening, said Obama called the shutdown threat "a game of chicken with our economy that we cannot accept." 
 
 It was unclear if House approval of the two bills would help House Speaker John Boehner solve a political Rubik's Cube. The Ohio Republican's twin goals: avoiding a shutdown fight that GOP leaders warn would set voters against the party, while simultaneously appeasing conservatives who might try to oust him as leader for not adequately confronting Obama. 
 
 "Our leaders wave the white flag every time there's a confrontation," said Rep. Mark Salmon, R-Ariz. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Boehner wants to "implement what the lobbyists want, not what the constituents of our district want." 
 
 At a closed meeting Thursday among House Republicans, leaders unveiled internal polling that attendees said showed most people would oppose a government shutdown — even those who have seen the videos and oppose financing Planned Parenthood. 
 
 Many Republicans argued that the polling showed a shutdown fight would be damaging and unwinnable, especially since Senate Democrats already derailed a bill erasing Planned Parenthood's federal funds. 
 
 "Pounding on the table doesn't turn 54 into 60 in the Senate," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., referring to the number of GOP senators and the number it would take to end Democratic filibusters. 
 
 The bill by Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., would transfer Planned Parenthood's federal money to thousands of government-backed community health centers. Supporters say that would keep women's health care intact, but opponents say those centers are overwhelmed and often far from women who need them. 
 
 Planned Parenthood gets around $450 million yearly in federal payments, mostly Medicaid reimbursements for handling low-income patients, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That's around one-third of the $1.3 billion yearly budget for the organization, which has nearly 700 clinics and provides sexual disease testing, contraceptives and abortions. 
 
 Conservatives' determination to block Planned Parenthood's money has been partly fueled by the race for the GOP's presidential nomination. Several candidates used their Wednesday night debate to urge lawmakers to turn off that funding spigot. 
 
 But spotlighting GOP divisions, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote Thursday to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, one of the presidential hopefuls. Cruz wants Republicans to oppose financing the government unless Planned Parenthood's money is cut off, defending his effort during the debate by saying, "I'm proud to stand for life." 
 
 Ayotte, who faces her own tough re-election fight next year, wrote that she opposed risking a shutdown "given the challenges and threats we face at home and abroad" and asked, "What is your strategy to succeed in actually defunding Planned Parenthood?" ||||| President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress want to pass a clean, stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown and allow negotiators more time to reach a long-term budget deal. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made the announcement after meeting at the White House with Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to plot their strategy on the spending talks. 
 
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 Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending bill before government funding runs out. 
 
 The biggest hurdle? Demands from House conservatives that even a short-term continuing resolution (CR) funding the government block money for Planned Parenthood. 
 
 “The three of us agree that we want a short-term CR,” Reid told reporters after the 90-minute huddle in the Oval Office. “We want to make sure the riders are off that, we want to make sure the government will be running.” 
 
 The top Democrats sought to present a united front in the contentious budget battle, even as Reid and Pelosi extended an olive branch to their Republican counterparts, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), to sit down and hammer out a comprehensive budget agreement. 
 
 Reid said that he is prepared “to do something meaningful with spending” on a broader funding deal after the short-term measure is passed. But he would not reveal how much additional spending he wants. 
 
 Pelosi stressed that she wants spending talks to proceed in a “timely fashion” so Congress can tackle other pressing issues, such as highway funding and a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. 
 
 “It’s important for us … to have not a very long CR, but one that enables us to have the time for the appropriators to write an omnibus bill,” she said. “The sooner we can agree on a number under which we can write the appropriations bill, the sooner we can get this job done and address some of the other issues.” 
 
 Boehner and Pelosi met on Thursday to discuss a government funding bill, aides said. The meeting, which was first reported by Politico, lasted for about 20 minutes. 
 
 Pelosi's lieutenant, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), on Wednesday said Democrats had "no idea" how Republicans were going to avoid a shutdown because they hadn't been included in the discussions. 
 
 Democrats have been demanding negotiations on next year’s spending levels with Republicans, who are dealing with an internal rift over Planned Parenthood. 
 
 After the release of a series of undercover videos that showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue, conservative Republicans have insisted federal money for the organization must be turned off. 
 
 McConnell has warned against a standoff over the issue, arguing it would hurt the GOP brand just as the 2013 shutdown over ObamaCare damaged the party. 
 
 “We’re going to fund the government,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “We’re not going to shut the government down and we will do that hopefully into late fall.” 
 
 But the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn (Texas), said Thursday the Senate will at least vote on a defunding measure in relation to a government funding measure. 
 
 In the House, Republican leaders are trying to convince the rank and file it would be unwise to risk a shutdown over defunding the organization. 
 
 During a closed-door meeting Thursday, leaders showed members polling data indicating Republicans would be blamed if the government shuts down. 
 
 Reid agreed that Republicans would bare the brunt of the damage. The Democratic leader said the GOP took control of the Senate last year in spite of, and not because of, the shutdown in 2013. 
 
 “They know what happened last time,” he said. “They know they got a gift.” 
 
 If a short-term deal can be worked out, Congress will still have to work out the terms for a longer funding plan that would last through the next fiscal year. 
 
 Democrats are demanding that any final deal lifts spending ceilings on defense and non-defense spending. Some Republicans are open to increasing the ceilings for defense, but most want to avoid any hike to non-defense spending. 
 
 Peter Sullivan contributed. This story was last updated at 6:29 p.m. ||||| The U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday, Sept.18 to defund Planned Parenthood for a one-year period. The vote was 241-187, with nearly all Republicans and two Democrats supporting the legislation. (Reuters) 
 
 This story has been updated. 
 
 The House passed two abortion-related bills Friday, including one that would strip federal health-care funding from Planned Parenthood for one year, but it remains unclear whether the votes would appease conservatives who have threatened a government shutdown over the organization. 
 
 The votes followed months of intense focus on Planned Parenthood prompted by undercover videos released by an activist group claiming they show violations of federal laws prohibiting the sales of fetal tissue for profit and restricting certain abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing and claimed the videos have been unfairly manipulated as it has fought off attempts to end its federal support. 
 
 But neither bill is likely to become law as Senate Democrats have filibustered similar measures, and President Obama has indicated he would veto both bills. 
 
 That’s why the move is unlikely to stave off growing fears of a government shutdown on Oct. 1. Since House conservatives know the bill to defund Planned Parenthood is unlikely to be enacted, they’re unlikely to back off their desire to attach it to a must-pass government spending measure to keep the government open. But again, neither Senate Democrats nor Obama will accept such language, triggering the standoff. 
 
 Nonetheless, House Republicans hoped to appease conservatives with the abortion-related votes. 
 
 One bill passed Friday, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, would impose criminal penalties on medical personnel who fail to aid an infant born after an attempted abortion. The other, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, imposes a one-year moratorium on federal funding for the group, which Republicans say will allow for a thorough investigation of its practices. Any funding, supporters said, would be redirected to clinics that do not offer abortions. 
 
 Congress must pass a budget before Sept. 30, or it faces partially shutting down the government for the second time in two years. Here's how we got to another potential shutdown. (Jayne W. Orenstein/The Washington Post) 
 
 [Wary of shutdown, GOP leaders try to refocus abortion debate] 
 
 “Most people think that is common sense,” said Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), sponsor of the defunding bill. “If there is reason to investigate, then there is reason to withhold taxpayer dollars during that period of time. The American taxpayer has been clear for a very long time that they do not want federal funds spent on abortion.” 
 
 Democrats pointed out that Planned Parenthood has long been prohibited from spending federal money on abortions, thanks to appropriations riders dating back to the 1970s. And in a floor debate Friday, they called the bill an attack on women’s health care and noted that other health-care providers would be unable to absorb all of Planned Parenthood’s hundreds of thousands of patients. 
 
 “This bill is dumb, it’s foolish, and it’s mean-spirited,” said Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). “The bill is based upon lies and exaggerations. If you want to have a truthful debate, then let’s talk about the 400,000 Pap smears, the 500,000 breast exams, the 4.5 million STD and HIV tests that Planned Parenthood does each year.” 
 
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 Planned Parenthood’s affiliated clinics are together the country’s largest provider of abortions. But they also perform other women’s health and family planning services, which are funded through Medicaid and Title X federal grants totaling about $450 million a year. 
 
 The organization decried the vote Friday. “These bills are a callous attempt to insert politics into women’s health, and we’re grateful that the Senate and the president will stop them from becoming law,” said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. 
 
 Republicans and Democrats sparred over the undercover videos, which have been released by the Center for Medical Progress over the course of the summer. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) called them part of a “coordinated, broad-based smear campaign full of distortions and misinformation.” Key context was edited out of the videos, she said, including footage of exculpatory comments from Planned Parenthood executives. 
 
 During the second round of GOP debates, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said "shame on us" if lawmakers don't stop a bill from passing that funds Planned Parenthood. (CNN) 
 
 But Republicans said the videos spoke for themselves and lambasted Democrats for trying to undermine their content: “If they want to send one taxpayer dime to Planned Parenthood after watching them, shame on them,” said Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.). 
 
 The votes broke down mostly along party lines, with the Planned Parenthood bill passing 241 to 187 and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act passing 248 to 177. 
 
 While public attention has been focused on the Planned Parenthood bill, anti-abortion activists believe the vote on the survivor protection bill, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), could be even more politically significant in the long run. 
 
 Democrats say current law is already sufficient to prevent the abuses that activists fear, and they pointed to objections from medical groups, such as the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which said the bill represents “gross legislative interference into the practice of medicine.” But activists believe those opponents have assumed an extreme position that could become a liability in future campaigns. 
 
 “The votes this afternoon are evidence of just how wedded to the idea of abortion on-demand, at any time, for any reason, that the Democratic Party has become,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, noting only five of 188 Democrats voted in favor. “Where is the compassion and concern for ‘the little guy,’ the abortion survivor, whose heart is beating and alive?” 
 
 The bills were brought to the House floor amid in order to create leverage with President Obama and congressional Democrats given the nearing deadline to fund the government. But neither have indicated a shutdown would force them to blink. 
 
 The Senate took an August test vote on a Planned Parenthood defunding bill, which fell well short of the 60 votes necessary to advance controversial legislation. Senators are expected to take a procedural vote Tuesday on a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in a related effort to demonstrate the political hurdles facing any bill restricting abortion rights. 
 
 On the House side, GOP leaders have sought to tamp down demands to link Planned Parenthood funding to the spending deadline. They have made both political and practical arguments: In a Thursday morning meeting at Republican National Committee headquarters, party leaders presented polling numbers showing Republicans would be blamed for a shutdown in key battleground districts. And they told members that due to the vagaries of federal appropriations and funding cycles, the kind of short-term funding bill that is likely to pass ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline would do little to affect Planned Parenthood. 
 
 “In the short term, you might feel better, but the money’s already out the door,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), an Appropriations Committee member and leadership ally. “Let’s do the hearings. Let’s find out what the case is. Let’s try to craft something that’s a little more nuanced and precise than just, ‘if you don’t do what we want, we’ll shut down the government.’ “
– Twelve days remain in the fiscal year, and the threat of a second government shutdown in three years remains very much in play. The big problem remains a showdown over funding for Planned Parenthood, with conservative Republicans who are upset about recent undercover videos demanding that the group lose all federal funds. With the clock ticking, party leaders still have "no concrete plan" to avoid the shutdown, reports Politico. One possibility is to pass a temporary measure before the end of the month to allow more time for negotiations in the fall, but that's not a slam dunk—because House conservatives demand that even such a continuing resolution block Planned Parenthood funding, reports the Hill. They're also threatening to try to oust John Boehner—who opposes abortion and Planned Parenthood but doesn't want to hand Democrats a potential gift in the form of a shutdown—as speaker if he backs down. The AP sees a possible way out of what it calls this "political Rubik's Cube." House leaders are pushing through a number of abortion-related measures, including one that passed today to defund Planned Parenthood for a year. The measures stand virtually no chance of becoming law, but leaders hope they will be enough to mollify the conservative rank-and-file. It "remains unclear" whether that will be the case, however, notes the Washington Post. Lawmakers are in session only five more days until the deadline, and about the only safe bet is that the drama will go down to the final day, if not hour.