Another U.S. government shutdown is looming as Congress has less than two weeks to pass a measure to keep the government funded beyond Sept. 30.
If no agreement is reached, a flood of federal agencies could be closed. This would be the second government shutdown in three years.
The last government shutdown was in 2013, when Democrats controlled the Senate. The reason behind the shutdown was Republican-led efforts to defund Obamacare.
This time around, the top item of contention is Republican's strong push to deny federal money to Planned Parenthood.
Other issues include military spending, the contentious Iran nuclear deal, and failure to keep the Export Import Bank open to help finance new deals.
Republicans want to pass a budget without funding for Planned Parenthood. Democrats, meanwhile, have promised to hold up budget proceedings in the Senate until Planned Parenthood receives funding. President Obama has also said he will veto any budget that doesn't have money for Planned Parenthood.
The issue was a key topic Wednesday during the second GOP presidential debate. A trio of Republicans were very vocal about their Planned Parenthood stance.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Carly Fiorina, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) passionately pointed to a series of heavily edited undercover videos released by an anti-abortion group showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the donation of fetal tissue after abortions.
Here's what they had to say...
Government Shutdown: What GOP Hopefuls Had to Say
Carly Fiorina: "I dare Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says, 'We have to keep this alive to harvest its brain.' This is about the character of our nation and if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us," Fiorina continued to loud applause in what was her shining moment of the night.
Chris Christie: Chris Christie claimed that as "the brand-new, first ever pro-life governor of New Jersey," he repeatedly defunded Planned Parenthood. He accused Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of supporting the "the systematic murder of children in the womb to preserve their body parts in a way that maximizes their value for sale for profit."
Ted Cruz: "I'm proud to stand for life. These Planned Parenthood videos are horrifying. I would encourage every American to watch the videos. See - seeing your Planned Parenthood officials callously, heartlessly bartering and selling the body parts of human beings, and then ask yourself, 'Are these my values?' These are horrifying. On these videos, Planned Parenthood also essentially confesses to multiple felonies. It is a felony with ten years' jail term to sell the body parts of unborn children for profit. That's what these videos show Planned Parenthood doing.
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"Absolutely we shouldn't be sending $500 million of taxpayer money to funding an ongoing criminal enterprise, and I'll tell you, the fact that Republican leadership in both houses has begun this discussion by preemptively surrendering to Barack Obama and saying, 'We'll give in because Obama threatens a veto.' We need to stop surrendering and start standing... for our principles," Cruz continued.
While no party wants a government shutdown, it sure looks like that's where we're heading.
Congress, never known for swift action, is way behind in passing the series of spending bills necessary to pass a full budget.
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