Republicans are once again contemplating a defeat on the budget followed by recriminations. This season the defeat will concern Planned Parenthood: Some Republicans think that they should take a stand against federal funding for the organization in the bill to keep the government funded at the start of the new fiscal year; the top-ranking Republicans in Congress think they are sure to lose that fight and so don’t want to start it.
But before Planned Parenthood, there was the standoff in the spring over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans wanted to deny funding for the implementation of President Obama’s unilateral amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. And before that, in late 2013, was the struggle to defund Obamacare, which resulted in a partial shutdown of the federal government. In both episodes, Republicans were divided and defeated.
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