Real Housemembers of Congress Return to Chaos and Drama: Budget Meltdown Over Abortion

Washington, D.C. — Last week, on the Real Housemembers of Congress, Kevin from California’s party was a mess. The fighting. The bickering. The drama. They can’t seem to get it together and we’re nearing a government shutdown. In previous seasons, this is usually the time that Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s friend group would be accusing Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ friend group of not wanting to work together, and vice versa. But Kevin is so disorganized that they’re nowhere close to presenting a united front. Even over the weekend, Kevin tried to get it together by proposing a continuing resolution, but it hasn’t stopped the fighting within the friend group. A key issue stirring up the chaos in Kevin’s friend group: Abortion.

Anti-abortion Housemembers packed must-pass government spending bills with unpopular sexual and reproductive health restrictions, setting new cast members already fighting to return next season up for tough recastings. They played themselves. (But yikes, will that reunion episode be juicy).

As Politico reported, they didn’t vote on the agriculture appropriations bill because some members didn’t want to be on the record voting for more restrictions on medication abortion. The fans have been telling them this is unpopular. Repeatedly. For years.

Alexis McGill Johnson, a regular viewer of the show, who also happens to be the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, responded: 

“Once again, anti-abortion politicians are scared to add another vote to their long records of voting to take away our sexual and reproductive rights. Poll after poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t want politicians interfering with their personal medical decisions or making it harder for people to get access to care. They know that voters are paying attention.” 

Viewers are still waiting to see if they’ll vote on the other bills. They were expected to vote on the defense bill last week, but will now reportedly vote on the legislation this week. That one has restrictions on abortion access for military members and their families. McGill Johnson is also looking to see what happens with the Labor HHS bill, which includes language to “defund” Planned Parenthood and cut funding for Title X, and the State and Foreign Operations bill, which would export anti-abortion policy overseas by permanently imposing the global gag rule. 

What will happen on next week’s episode? More drama, that’s for sure. Reporters looking for comments or who want to talk about abortion’s impact on the government-funding drama can email [email protected]. 

Politico:

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.