Conservatives Urge Republicans to Focus on Reconciliation, Defunding Planned Parenthood
Conservatives are calling on lame-duck Republican majorities to use budget reconciliation to advance key priorities, including a defund of Planned Parenthood, before Democrats take control of Congress in January.
With Democrats on track to flip nine Senate seats and take the House by a massive margin, Republicans have about six weeks remaining in power, according to an opinion piece by Heritage Foundation analysts Alex Keckler and Daniel Kowalski published Thursday in The Daily Signal.
They argued that reconciliation allows the GOP to pass legislation with a simple majority in the Senate without Democratic support.
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“Now is the time for Republicans to deliver on their promises to voters, giving the Democrats a goodbye present on their way out,” they wrote. They pointed to a House Freedom Caucus letter requesting a reconciliation bill that funds defense, expands health savings accounts, and reduces federal spending by more than $1 trillion.
Suggested measures include limiting broad-based categorical eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, banning food stamp purchases of soda, candy and energy drinks, block-granting Medicaid, and providing federal funding for states that implement voter ID laws.
In a separate Nov. 5 column for LifeNews.com, Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins said Republicans control both chambers until noon on Jan. 3 and that government funding expires Dec. 11. She urged lawmakers to make a 10-year defund of Planned Parenthood the top priority.
“Not one year. Not a hearing. Not a letter. Not ‘next Congress.’ There is no next Congress for this majority,” Hawkins wrote. “10 years is the full budget window Congress can use. Anything less is a choice. And defunding is the minimum this majority owes the voters who gave it power, so it goes first on the list.”
Hawkins noted that the House included a 10-year Planned Parenthood defund in the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but the Senate reduced it to one year after the parliamentarian’s advice.
That provision expired July 4, 2026, restoring taxpayer funding. She said Democrats have already signaled plans for abortion up to birth nationwide and the end of the Hyde Amendment.
“A 10-year defund signed into law before January 3rd is a wall they will have to tear down in public, with their names on the vote,” she wrote. “Make them do it.”
Keckler and Kowalski said Republican senators who won reelection or are leaving office have incentives to support a broad reconciliation package while they still hold the majority. Hawkins also called for pro-life groups to withhold the pro-life label from lawmakers who will not cosponsor the Life at Conception Act and to hold elected officials accountable in both parties.
