About a year after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) drooled over defunding “big abortion” and vowed to slash funding for Planned Parenthood in what eventually became the One Big, Beautiful Bill, the House speaker is now reportedly planning to quietly drop the entire defund provision. What changed, might you ask? Maybe he’s decided to become a better person. Or maybe he finally clocked how most Americans on both aisles support abortion. Or maybe! Probably! He’s panicking over the fact that he’s about to lose the gavel.

This week, the Washington Examiner reported that Johnson—who monitors his porn intake with his son—will not be extending the one-year ban on Medicaid money for organizations like Planned Parenthood. That ban, which went into effect as part of the stupid aforementioned bill, expires on July 4.

According to a Republican leadership aide, Johnson is “not considering” language to defund PP again, as the GOP tries to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security—which is in its 54th day of a shutdown—through reconciliation. This funding lapse has been the longest partial shutdown in American history (passing the record 44 days at the end of March), and is the product of Dems not folding like a lawn chair for once, and refusing to further fund ICE until agents agree to more regulations, like no longer wearing masks and showing ID. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is reportedly also urging Republicans to just stay focused on funding DHS.

Currently, House Republicans have a razor-thin majority of 217-214, one of the narrowest margins in recent history. Between surprise resignations and a few deaths across the lower chamber, as well as the increasingly resounding promise of a blue wave that could wipe out the GOP trifecta, the Trump admin is trying to avoid anything abortion-related until the midterms are over. (In the Senate, the GOP has a 53-47 majority.) Though not all Republicans seem to agree with this strategy. This year, the admin has already pleaded with Louisiana and Missouri to drop their abortion pill lawsuits, by saying the FDA is working on its own re-review of the abortion pill, which FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is reportedly delaying until…after the midterms.

The Examiner reports that Johnson could still tuck the anti-abortion legislation into another bill that the GOP is preparing to push in a few months. But that would fall especially close to midterms season and, well… I doubt he’s going to want to risk that.

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