House Republicans are taking more than a few arrows from conservatives this week after the one trillion budget deal was announced over the weekend.
But the fact that Democrats are running around crowing about the deal should give Republicans reason for pause.
And the fact that Planned Parenthood is still funded is salt in the wound.
But now Speaker Paul Ryan is denying that there’s funding for Planned Parenthood in the bill at all, and that complete defunding will come in the next bill.
Which of course leaves one to wonder: if there’s no funding in the bill then what’s the need for de-funding?
Here’s more from Daily Caller…
House Speaker Paul Ryan said during a Tuesday press briefing that “Planned Parenthood is not funded” in the current budget deal, clashing with statements made by other Republicans Monday.
Just yesterday, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said that the spending bill “absolutely” funds Planned Parenthood and that the House is more focused on defunding the organization through a budget reconciliation bill later this year.
“If you’re a lawmaker serious about voting to defund Planned Parenthood, then your opportunity to do that is in the AHCA…we decided not to fight the Planned Parenthood battle on this funding bill because it’s contained in the AHCA, which we hope to take up this week as well,” Mulvaney explained.
During Tuesday’s briefing with Ryan, a reporter mentioned that conservatives are “disappointed” that Planned Parenthood remains funded in the spending bill.
Ryan began his response by ensuring that defunding would be in the reconciliation bill, echoing what Mulvaney said previously.
“Look at what all of our pro-life groups are saying. The Planned Parenthood legislation needs to be in the reconciliation bill as it is, because that’s how you get it into law,” Ryan stated.
However, Ryan also asserted that the spending bill itself doesn’t fund Planned Parenthood.
“This bill does not have funding for Planned Parenthood,” he said. “That’s important. The reconciliation bill advances the pro-life cause even further.”
“These two efforts in conjunction with one another advance our cause and our principles quite a bit,” he finished.
Here’s the video:
