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Republican congressional leaders, hoping to avert another government shutdown in two weeks, have embarked on a series of maneuvers in hopes of quelling the conservative anger in their party that is threatening to blow up plans to keep the government funded and functioning. (DeBonis and Snell, 9/14)

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Monday dismissed the idea of a federal government shutdown, saying instead that elected officials had a duty to serve despite disagreements within Congress. ... Cornyn’s comments come amid speculation over another federal shutdown continues to swirl, with Cornyn's colleague and presidential candidate Ted Cruz at the center of that speculation. Cruz has said for weeks that a shutdown is possible if Congress continued to fund Planned Parenthood. (Aguilar, 9/14)

Speaker John Boehner says he’s not worried about his political future, but the Ohio Republican’s fate has become an overwhelming obsession of House Republicans. His backers believe Boehner is being “blackmailed” by conservative hard-liners into supporting a government shutdown. His critics insist they just want their leader to do the right thing. The latest flash point for Boehner is the controversy over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Hard-line conservative Republicans want Boehner to do whatever it takes to shut off funding for the group, even if it means a shutdown. They’re vowing to vote against any spending bill that allows such funding to continue. (Bresnahan and Palmer, 9/15)

Growing concern over the cost of prescription drugs – articulated on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress – could force authors of a Senate biomedical innovation package to address the topic later this fall. With a quarter of Americans saying they cannot afford their prescription medications and prices up an average of 12.6 percent in 2014, drug affordability is coming under greater scrutiny just as the Senate begins crafting bipartisan legislation to spur medical innovation. (Zanona, 9/14)

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee on Wednesday will continue its probe into federal health information technology efforts by exploring how patients can improve their care by accessing their own medical records. The committee has met regularly to burrow into the 5-year-old $31.3 billion electronic health-record federal incentive payment program. Previous hearings have focused on the issue of health information technology systems' interoperability, or lack thereof. (Conn, 9/14)