WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that there will be "no" government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding, and signaled plans to pass the Senate stop-gap funding bill with help from Democrats.
"I expect my Democratic colleagues want to keep the government open as much as I do," Boehner, R-Ohio, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
The interview was Boehner's first since announcing his resignation Friday.
The announcement came as Republican leaders spar over how to handle a series of budget extension proposals to keep the federal government operating past Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. Moderates within the House GOP caucus had been pushing for any plan that will avoid a shutdown while more conservative members had vowed to strip funding from Planned Parenthood programs at any cost.
Senate Republicans have already moved ahead with plans for a "clean" continuing resolution after Democrats blocked an attempt to drop the Planned Parenthood funds.
Boehner said the House would take up the Senate bill and confirmed it would take Democratic votes to pass.
"I'm sure it will," Boehner told host John Dickerson. "But I expect my Democrat colleagues want to keep the government open as much as I do."
Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," acknowledged the strife between Republicans in Congress, but said he did not want a government shutdown: "I also share John Boehner's view, I don't want to shut down the Grand Canyon again. I don't want to shut down the veterans administration."
Email: jgould@defensenews.com
Twitter: @reporterjoe
Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
