Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) thinks Republican leaders are bluffing when they say they want to defund Planned Parenthood, so he is enlisting Christian pastors across the nation to help mobilize voters to force his colleagues' hands and threaten a government shutdown.
Cruz implored more than a thousand pastors and religious leaders on Tuesday to "preach from the pulpit" against Planned Parenthood and rally public support for an amendment defunding the family provider in the must-pass federal budget bill in November. If Congress attaches the defunding amendment to the budget instead of holding a vote on the standalone bill, it cannot keep funding Planned Parenthood without shutting down the whole federal government.
"Here is the challenge," the presidential hopeful explained on the national conference call. "The leadership of both parties, both the Democrats and Republicans, want an empty show vote.... They want a vote on Planned Parenthood that has no teeth or no consequence, which allows Republicans to vote for defunding, Democrats to vote for continuing funding, and nothing to change. ...But the leadership of both parties have publicly said they do not want the vote tied to any legislation that must pass."
