Top GOP lawmakers tell Mike Johnson they will oppose him on key MAGA funding priority

A collection of Republican House members told Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday that they will not support any federal funding cuts to Planned Parenthood.

In March, President Donald Trump's administration cut tens of millions from Planned Parenthood that fell under Title X funding, earmarked for birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing, Politico reported at the time.

NOTUS reported Wednesday that more moderate GOP lawmakers said that they can't support a funding bill, known as reconciliation, that makes cuts to such programs.

Johnson was joined by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) in hearing from moderates on cuts to Medicaid, another matter Republicans are considering.

ALSO READ: 'Thin ice': How Trump's new pro-natalist stance threatens reproductive care

NOTUS cited one source who said that "Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA) were among the moderate Republicans who made it clear to House GOP leadership that they oppose adding a measure to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood to a reconciliation bill."

Johnson told reporters that the matter was "not on our agenda" in the discussion when asked about it. NOTUS indicated that other Republicans leaving the meeting were just as cagey.

“That was sort of a closed-door discussion, I’m not going to go into that now,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said.

Despite the chance of the budget bill failing, the report said, "there is real concern among some Republicans that leadership will still add defunding Planned Parenthood language" in the bill.

The report noted that last week, Johnson spoke at the annual gala of an anti-abortion group and promised that the bill “is going to redirect funds away from ‘big abortion.’”

“We need simplicity in this bill,” Fitzpatrick told NOTUS of the reconciliation package prior to the meeting.

“I think there’s other policy areas that we need to focus on,” he added, according to the report.

On Tuesday, Lawler told NOTUS, “Obviously, Planned Parenthood does provide a lot of services outside of abortion-related services, and so, you know, I’d have to see what they’re proposing."

Other moderates like Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) appear to be indifferent whether cuts are made to Planned Parenthood funding.

“I know some other people are,” Bacon said. “A lot of people in my district don’t like money going to organizations that do abortion — taxpayer money. So, I just, so I won’t push back on that.”

The Republican majority in the House is small and there are two upcoming special elections in Arizona and Texas after Democrats there passed away.

There has been an ongoing effort by Republicans to find $880 billion in cuts to the federal budget.

See the report here.