Senate set to approve 'clean' spending bill to keep federal government open until December

Mitch McConnell says the GOP won&#039;t really defund Planned Parenthood — (Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

On Monday, the Senate easily beat back a filibuster threat from conservative Republicans, 77 to 19, setting up a Tuesday vote to approve a stopgap spending measure that will fund the federal government until Dec. 11. The House is expected to pass the measure, despite conservative anger over the lack of a provision to strip funding from Planned Parenthood. If Congress doesn't act by Wednesday at midnight, the government will officially begin to shut down due to lack of allocated funding.

Senate Democrats, joined by eight Republicans, blocked a measure to defund Planned Parenthood in the upper chamber last week. The "clean" stopgap bill is "the only viable way forward in the short term," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "It doesn't represent my first, second, third, or 23rd choice when it comes to funding the government, but it will keep the government open through the fall." According to a national poll released Monday, shutting down the government over Planned Parenthood is unpopular, even among Republicans.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.