McConnell: ‘We’re Not Doing Gov’t Shutdowns’ over Planned Parenthood

Mitch McConnell Sees No Government Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood Fight (The Wall Street Journal)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Thursday beat back suggestions that a fight over federal funding for Planned Parenthood would end in a government shutdown this fall, putting him at odds with the conservative wing of the Republican base as the issue spreads into the presidential race.

“We’re not doing government shutdowns,” Mr. McConnell said when asked whether the fight over the women’s health centers would complicate passage of spending bills to fund the government in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1.

Some conservative lawmakers have threatened to force a government shutdown unless the provider of women’s reproductive health care services is cut off from federal funds, a line of attack that has been amplified by Republican presidential contenders.