Republican senators: McConnell blocking vote on Planned Parenthood

Several Republican senators are accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of blocking a vote to defund Planned Parenthood during the debate on the highway funding bill.

“There are a host of amendments that the American people are focused on, things like defunding Planned Parenthood after the gruesome video,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said during a floor speech rebuking McConnell. “The majority leader doesn’t want to vote on that. That’s actually something the American people are focused on.”

{mosads}Cruz, along with Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), had filed amendments to the highway bill this week to eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which has been accused of profiting from fetal tissue donations after the release of secretly taped videos.

McConnell on Friday disclosed his strategy to advance the multi-billion-dollar transportation bill, which involves a procedural tactic known as “filling the tree” to prevent other amendments from being offered.

In this case, McConnell allowed votes on both reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank and repealing ObamaCare, though he also said he hopes to have “a robust amendment process” on the bill.

“I would encourage every one of my colleagues to work with the bill managers on their germane amendments,” McConnell said from the floor Friday.

But Lee’s spokesman, Conn Carroll, said any Planned Parenthood amendment would not be considered germane by the chair — keeping that amendment off the table in the highway fight.

When asked if a Planned Parenthood amendment could still be added, McConnell spokesman Don Stewart maintained that there is a possibility.

“Once the ObamaCare and Ex/Im amendments are voted on, those slots are opened up and the potential for more amendments exists,” he wrote in an email. He declined to say whether McConnell supported bringing the Planned Parenthood amendments to a vote.

Still, there is no guarantee that any Planned Parenthood amendments would get a vote, as other senators could block them once they are brought to the Senate floor.

— Jordain Carney contributed