EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are discussing measures that could potentially end federal funding of groups like Planned Parenthood as cost-savings in their multitrillion-dollar bill advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Two sources close to the House Energy & Commerce Committee told Fox News Digital that the move was being floated as lawmakers look to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts to offset the cost of Trump’s tax priorities.
It comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said earlier this week that Republicans would target “big abortion” in the budget reconciliation process.
“We are working on a lot of different options, but that’s been discussed,” Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital when asked directly about Planned Parenthood. “Yeah, it’s been discussed.”
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, said President Donald Trump’s agenda bill could defund “big abortion.” (Getty/Reuters)
The House Energy & Commerce Committee alone is tasked with finding $880 billion in spending cuts under its jurisdiction, while intra-GOP disagreements over how to handle potential Medicaid cuts persist.
Republicans are working to use the reconciliation process to pass a vast bill with Trump’s priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy and the debt limit sometime this spring or summer.
By lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House to pass sweeping legislation while entirely sidelining the opposition, in this case Democrats.
The first major hurdle, passing a framework with “instructions” for various committees to find spending cuts or ways to enact a small increase, was passed earlier this year.
The Energy & Commerce Committee has a wide jurisdiction that includes health, energy, telecommunications and other policies.
Democrats and other critics of Republicans’ reconciliation plans have accused them of trying to slash critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while trying to pay for Trump’s other priorities.
However, Republicans have consistently said they will not touch Medicare, and Trump is pushing them to drop taxes on retirees’ Social Security as part of the bill.
How deeply to cut Medicaid, however, has been the subject of fierce debate between fiscal hawks and Republican lawmakers in blue states.
House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie said defunding Planned Parenthood had been “discussed.” (Getty Images)
Defunding Planned Parenthood directly is impossible under reconciliation rules, but Republicans can target groups like it that provide abortions and receive federal Medicaid funds. It could provide some extra wiggle room, but could also be a similarly tricky vote for those front-line members.
One House Republican who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital, “I don’t even know what they’re defunding, because you already can’t use federal funds for abortion.”
They noted the longstanding Hyde Amendment prevents the use of federal dollars on abortions.
Planned Parenthood gets Medicaid dollars for the other health services it provides, not abortion, but critics say those federal dollars are helping prop up the abortion industry.
Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., told Fox News Digital at an anti-abortion rally in late March, “Congress holds the power of the purse, and President Trump has begun the defunding of Planned Parenthood.”
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“So when we pass the reconciliation bill, we can include defunding Planned Parenthood, and I will do anything possible to make that happen,” Miller said.
No final decisions have been made, and it is possible that such provisions do not make it into the final bill.
However, the Energy & Commerce Committee is expected to advance its portion of the legislation next week, meaning its plan could be revealed within days.
Additionally, while it was not clear before that the conversations had reached the committee level, defunding Planned Parenthood in the reconciliation process has been something that groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America have been pushing for months.
Rep. Mary Miller has been pushing for such a measure. (Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., alluded to Republicans’ plans in a speech at the interest group’s gala earlier this week.
Johnson said Republicans’ reconciliation bill would redirect funds from “big abortion” to “federally qualified health centers” on Tuesday night.
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When reached for comment, a spokesman for the House Energy & Commerce Committee told Fox News Digital, “Chairman Guthrie, along with other Energy and Commerce Republicans, have been and are continuing to work with members across the Republican Conference to deliver on President Trump’s agenda through the reconciliation process.”
“The committee is not yet ready to comment on any policy-specific items that may or may not be included in the final bill text. Energy and Commerce is examining a full menu of options from the committee’s broad jurisdiction such as energy, environment, health, telecommunications, and more,” the spokesman said.