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The federal government could be headed for a shutdown at the end of the month, over funding for Planned Parenthood. ... Republicans in Congress have long disliked Planned Parenthood because the group performs abortions, among many other health services for women. Their revulsion for Planned Parenthood was reignited this summer by secretly recorded videos showing organization officials offhandedly discussing how they sometimes provide tissue from aborted fetuses for medical researchers. (9/19)

Congress’ Republican leaders face stark tests as they fight to keep the government open past month’s end, amid fears a shutdown could imperil their party’s White House ambitions. ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., must contend with the ambitions of several GOP presidential candidates. One of them, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, has made it his business to oppose the Kentuckian at every turn, even taking to the Senate floor to accuse him of lying. ... Together they are demanding that must-pass spending legislation cut off all federal money for Planned Parenthood. The efforts follows the disclosure of secretly recorded videos in which Planned Parenthood officials are shown discussing how they acquire fetal parts for medical research. (Werner and Taylor, 9/21)

Republican leaders who are eyeing a rarely-deployed, fast-track budget procedure as a way to defund Planned Parenthood and stave off a government shutdown appear to be in for a rude awakening. The idea is aimed at placating conservatives by giving them a way to pass legislation to strip Planned Parenthood of its funding and decouple the issue from the entire federal budget. But conservatives are balking at the proposal to use the majority-vote reconciliation process, calling it a "ruse" that, in the end, would leave Planned Parenthood's federal funding intact and amount to little more than a feel-good exercise. (Bade, 9/18)

If the U.S. government shuts down Oct. 1, it will be because of a chain of events set in motion by a 26-year-old and a video camera. Yet David Daleiden, the young Californian who masterminded the Planned Parenthood sting, isn’t worried about whether the threat of a shutdown is the right way to go. He just wants the women’s health provider that he says traffics in "baby body parts" to be stripped of taxpayer support. (Haberkorn, 9/21)

A federal judge said Friday that the anti-abortion group targeting Planned Parenthood with hidden cameras cannot refuse to turn over potential pieces of evidence by pleading the Fifth Amendment. Judge William Orrick said in a hearing that the Center for Medical Progress must comply with the court’s requests for documents, escalating the weeks-long legal battle over the secret videos. The organization’s founder, David Daleiden, had previously told the court that the group planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (Ferris, 9/18)