A new ad is hitting Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) over his vote to advance an appropriations bill that includes a provision restricting access to abortion medication — highlighting the struggle GOP leaders have to pass their annual spending bills while protecting their most vulnerable members from difficult votes.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released an ad criticizing Ciscomani for supporting the agriculture appropriations bill earlier this year, which includes a provision that would ban a Biden administration rule allowing abortion pills to be sold through the mail and in retail pharmacies. That measure has come under intense scrutiny by Democrats and Republicans alike, with several GOP members sinking the bill when it came to the floor earlier this year.
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The 52-second ad seeks to paint Ciscomani as an “anti-abortion extremist” who has flip-flopped on his position, pointing to the Arizona Republican’s previous comments that abortion policy should be left to the states compared to his vote to restrict the sale of mifepristone.
The ad includes a clip from an interview Ciscomani conducted with a local news outlet in which the first-term incumbent sought to justify his vote by arguing the abortion pill provision was just one part of a much larger bill.
“When you look at these specific items that you’re talking about, they’re part of huge bills that when you vote for the bill, yes, there’s a lot of things in there that end up being that line item,” Ciscomani said.
The attack underscores the struggle Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other GOP leaders have had to advance the annual spending bill, especially as several other Republican lawmakers have come out in opposition to that provision, threatening its passage.
Many of those members who vocally opposed the measure voted to sink the bill in September, including Reps. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
"Leadership knew that this was going to be a problem, and yet here we are,” Mace told reporters at the time.
Other GOP members, such as Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), opposed the bill because of its substantial spending cuts to some of the programs included in the bill aimed at supporting farmers and others in the agriculture sector.
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“Rep. Valadao’s main concern with the Ag/FDA bill are the drastic, seemingly arbitrary cuts to programs his farmers and producers depend on to feed the nation,” a spokesperson for his office told the Washington Examiner in September.
The annual spending bill is used to determine the budget for the Agriculture Department, the USDA Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, and other related agencies. The bill has been stalled since its failure to pass in September, with lawmakers extending the deadline for its passage until Jan. 19.