Congress doesn’t want another shutdown but has no plan yet

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Congress is exactly one week away from another funding deadline and another possible government shutdown.

  But with the pope's visit this week, lawmakers will not get back to the contentious issue of funding Planned Parenthood until late tomorrow. How that is resolved will determined whether a shutdown takes place.

  For the very latest, I'm joined by our political director, Lisa Desjardins.

  So, Lisa, given this debate about Planned Parenthood that's been going on for weeks and weeks, where does everything stand right now?

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  I think, for all of the heated debate and important topics here, right now, Judy, it comes down to the calendar.

  So, let me take people through where we are right now. First of all, the deadline that matters is September 30. That is the deadline by which Congress needs to fund most of government. Now, of course, here we are. Tomorrow, we have that vote you mentioned in the Senate. That is a vote in which the Senate will vote on a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, but fund everything else in government. It's expected to fail.

  So, what then?

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Because they need 60 votes, the way the Senate works, and they can't get the 60.

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  That's right. Republicans don't have 60 votes. So, even though most Republicans will vote for that, it's not expected to get the 60 votes that is needed.

  So, that will leave an opening. How does Congress fund government? And that will leave these three days, next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, in order for Congress to figure that out, not a lot of time and not a lot of space in order to do that.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But now the real threat, as you and I were talking earlier, is in the House, where you have this very determined group of Republicans saying, no matter what, they're not going to vote to fund Planned Parenthood.

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  That's right.

  The House Freedom Caucus, about 30 members, has said no way will they vote for anything that funds Planned Parenthood, which is what may be ending — may come out of the Senate. It may be one of the only options from the Senate. They say they won't vote for it. That means that Speaker Boehner probably doesn't have enough Republican votes to pass it with just Republicans.

  Beyond that caucus, there's other Republicans who are on the fence as well. They see this as a moral vote. So, you do the math, as our viewers are probably doing right now, it's obvious that Republicans will need Democrats in order to fund government at this point. And it's not clear exactly what the plan is.

  That's why the concern now. There's not a clear plan for how they get out of this.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Two quick questions. Speaker Boehner, is it known where he stands on whether a government shutdown is the right thing to do?

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  Yes, Speaker Boehner and everyone around him has said, clearly, no, we do not want a government shutdown.

  That's been his mantra. However, how he avoids one is another question. I just got off the phone with a veteran member of Congress who said no one in leadership in the House or Senate wants a shutdown. However, his words, accidents do happen.

  And that's how they look at 2013. The dynamics then, Judy, very similar to now. There was a caucus I called the no way caucus. It dug in, wouldn't a support a funding bill that funded then the Affordable Care Act.

  That same caucus now saying it won't support anything that funds Planned Parenthood.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And just finally, on the Democrats, if they are called on to make the difference here, what are they going to do?

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  Right.

  The Democrats, in a way, Nancy Pelosi, are a little in the catbird's seat, because Speaker Boehner may need them to keep government running, doesn't want the blowback that they received last time from the shutdown.

  Democrats are interested in a few things. They would like to see the Export-Import Bank reestablished, reauthorized. I don't know if they will get it, but that's something that they would like on the table as these discussions go forward.

  But, again, no one really knows, Judy, what's going to happen. Very possible they do another short-term, but very possible accidents can happen.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  It's why you and others are going to be watching it so closely.

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  Yes. It's fascinating.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Lisa Desjardins, thank you.

• LISA DESJARDINS:

  Sure.