It’s the final countdown to midnight, and averting the GOP’s “Planned” government shutdown.
The Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has delivered on his end of the bargain. Senate passes funding bill to avert government shutdown:
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of a funding bill that would avert a government shutdown and fund federal agencies through Dec. 11.
The measure, which also provides emergency funding to fight wildfires and extends the expiring authority of the Federal Aviation Administration, passed the Senate by a vote of 78-20.
Roll Call Vote 272, Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake voted in favor.
The TanMan’s House has taken a procedural vote to advance a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. House moves toward final funding vote:
The House easily advanced a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown at midnight, setting up a final vote later Wednesday.
The procedural rule governing debate on the bill passed 239-187 with only three Republicans voting against it. Roll Call Vote 525.
The rule must pass first in order for debate and a vote on the underlying legislation to move forward. With it approved, the House is now on track to pass a spending bill lasting through Dec. 11 around 5 p.m. Wednesday evening.
Democrats uniformly vote against procedural rules on the floor, putting the onus on Republicans to provide enough votes to pass it. But Democrats are expected to supply votes for the underlying spending bill, since many GOP lawmakers will likely oppose it since it doesn’t cut off Planned Parenthood funding.
The federal government will shut down at midnight if Congress doesn’t send the legislation to President Obama’s desk in time.
“In addition to the spending bill, the House also voted on a measure known as an “enrollment correction” that would defund Planned Parenthood.” Roll Call Vote 525 passed 239-187, with not one Democrat voting in favor. Arizona Reps. Franks, Gosar, McSally, Salmon and Schweikert all voted in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood.
The “enrollment correction” will be separate from the spending bill, and is expected to fail in the Senate.
On Monday, the House also voted on the misleadingly captioned “Women’s Public Health and Safety Act,” which if enacted would allow states to terminate providers from Medicaid if they also provided abortions. This is specifically aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood by GOP-dominated state legislatures. Roll Call Vote 524, passed 236-193.
Two Democrats, Reps. Lipinksi and Peterson, voted in favor (they routinely vote with the GOP). Somewhat surprisingly, nine Republicans voted against the measure. Arizona Reps. Franks, Gosar, McSally, Salmon and Schweikert all voted in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood.
The “Women’s Public Health and Safety Act,” is expected to fail in the Senate.
So here is what you can expect to see from the GOP-friendly media in Arizona tomorrow: Arizona’s members of Congress vote to avoid a government shutdown. (We’ll see how they vote on the final bill later today).
UPDATE: Roll Call Vote 528 passed 277-151, with all Democrats voting in favor and 91 Republicans voting in favor. 151 Republicans would have preferred a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood. As expected, Rep. Martha McSally voted in favor (having it both ways). Reps. Franks, Gosar, Salmon and Schweikert, all members of the mutinous GOP House Freedom Caucus, voted for a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood.
What the GOP-friendly media in Arizona may not report is that Arizona’s GOP congressional delegation has also uniformly voted in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood and in favor of new abortion restrictions in the past week. The GOP’s war on women’s reproductive freedom and health is raging,
Rep. Martha McSally, in particular, is trying to have it both ways.
McSally, whom the GOP-friendly media in Arizona tries to convince us is a “moderate” because she will not vote for a government shutdown, nevertheless is firmly in the pocket of anti-abortion zealots like Cathi Herrod and her Center for Arizona Policy lobbying group. McSally is a “warrior” in the GOP’s war on women’s reproductive freedom and health and is no “moderate.” Don’t be fooled.
