GOP exploring plan to avoid government shutdown, defund Plan Parenthood

WASHINGTON — Top House Republicans are actively exploring a plan to avoid a government shutdown by targeting Planned Parenthood funding through a stand-alone budget tactic and passing a stop-gap measure that is free of restrictions on the abortion rights group.

The idea, which has been discussed for weeks by senior House Republicans, has not yet been explicitly endorsed by House Speaker John Boehner — and it's far from clear that it will pass muster with House conservatives who are demanding the party leadership take a tougher line against the organization.

But the plan is gaining steam in the upper ranks of the House GOP conference — and it would remove the most controversial barrier standing before House Republicans over how to attack Planned Parenthood without shutting down the government at month's end.

Under the proposal, the House would approve a short-term, stop-gap measure to keep the government afloat until later this fall. Republicans would instead target Planned Parenthood's roughly $500 million in annual funding through a legislative process known as budget reconciliation, which cannot be filibustered in the Senate.

President Barack Obama, however, could still veto the reconciliation legislation, and Democrats would still hold enough votes to sustain a veto.

But if successful, proponents argue it would send a message to Obama over Planned Parenthood without risking a politically damaging government shutdown. Indeed, some Republicans are arguing that pursuing a strategy that delivers a bill to the President's desk and forcing him to veto it is a better message than getting blamed for another shutdown.

"Why not try something that is actually achievable?" one House Republican said to CNN. This Boehner ally stressed that there are other big fights coming down the pike this fall, like the debate over the debt ceiling, and said it's better to get something out of a negotiation rather than playing into a Democratic narrative on GOP infighting.

The plan was discussed by Boehner's leadership team at a closed-door meeting Wednesday, according to attendees. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority whip, plans to discuss the idea Wednesday night with the rest of the GOP conference, something that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California also supports, aides said.

It's one of several plans still under consideration, aides said. Plus, the House is moving separately on a bill this week to eliminate funding for the group.

A Scalise aide said that his boss believes "the best thing for the movement, and the best shot at defunding (Planned Parenthood), is to put a bill on the President's desk and dare him to veto it."

Wednesday night's meeting wasn't designed to roll out a detailed plan but to give conservatives what they've been demanding — another chance for input into the process.

But even those close to Boehner admit that working to get members to back away from a showdown with Democrats over government funding may not work. They believe the motivation behind many of conservatives criticizing the speaker's moves is less about the policy fight on Planned Parenthood and more about using the battle over the issue as a political play to oust Boehner.