WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) — Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Monday voted in favor of a spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown without addressing the obstacle for funding Planned Parenthood.
Lawmakers approved the measure 77-19 — which included 44 Democrats, 31 Republicans and two independents voting in favor of the bill. Sixty were needed for the measure to go before a full Senate vote.
Congress is trying to get a spending measure passed before the government’s operating capital runs out Wednesday. The problem, though, has been some Republicans’ insisting that the bill include language stripping Planned Parenthood of its federal money.
The measure approved Monday, which contained no such language, would keep the government operating until Dec. 11 if it is approved by the full Senate, House and President Barack Obama.
If a spending bill isn’t passed, some agencies of the federal government will shut down on Thursday.
Some observers wonder how House Republicans will treat the measure, if the Senate passes it, with the resignation of Speaker John Boehner.
Republicans and some Democrats have advocated pulling Planned Parenthood’s federal money after a series of videos purported to show organization personnel discussing the sale of body parts from dead fetuses.
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