John Boehner Promises No Government Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood

John Boehner, officially in the IDGAF phase of his career, said this morning that there will be no government shutdown at the end of the month. “I expect my Democratic colleagues want to keep the government open as much as I do,” Boehner said during an appearance on Face the Nation. “The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week,” he added.

Boehner recently announced his resignation from Congress. His resignation was largely precipitated by internal disagreements among Republicans about Planned Parenthood funding. Many Republicans are determined to defund the organization at all costs, including shutting down the federal government. Those hardliners, dissatisfied by Boehner’s management, withdrew their support from the Speaker of the House.

In this morning’s interview, Boehner referred to those hardline Republicans like Ted Cruz as “false prophets.” “We’ve got groups here in town…who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know — they know — are never going to happen,” Boehner said.

He also took a moment to remind voters that he had once referred to Cruz as a “jackass,” a description he still stands firmly by.

Even though Boehner refuses to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding, he announced that he will form a select committee to investigate the organization. “We’ll…take up a select committee to investigate these horrific videos that we’ve seen from abortion clinics that we’ve seen in several states,” he told Face the Nation host John Dickerson.

Planned Parenthood was quick to respond to Boehner’s announcement. In a statement to the Washington Post, Planned Parenthood called the panel a “five-ring circus.” Via the Post:

“This is really an attempt of to ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood. It’s an assault on every woman whose breast cancer was caught early because of Planned Parenthood and every woman who has made her own decision about whether and when to have a child.”