Congress might commit to a new Farm Bill this year after all. But there is always the wild card in the U.S. House of Representatives where several Republican members, particularly Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, threaten to lead a revolt and boot out the speaker of the house, again.
On Tuesday agriculture reporters heard what could be positive developments from U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Both said that there has been work accomplished behind the scenes on the structure of a new Farm Bill. Thompson said that details of the new Farm Bill could become public in May.
DTN Progressive Farmer has numerous details about what Thompson and Stabenow outlined as priorities in the new Farm Bill. Read that here.
A new Farm Bill could cost around $140 billion per year with 80% of that funding for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Stabenow opposes efforts to reduce SNAP funding or resources directed at climate change.
Successful Farming reports that she would delay the Farm Bill until 2025 if Republicans support cuts in either of those priorities. Read that article here.
A new Farm Bill has already been delayed. Instead of passing a new version last year, Congress extended the previous one.
The political instability in the U.S. House these days can’t be understated. U.S. Representative Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican, joined Georgia’s Greene in opposition to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. The threat is to lead a motion to vacate – if enough members of the House joined them – which could force Johnson out of the speaker’s role.
Greene has been especially critical of Johnson for committing to another U.S. aid package for Ukraine as it tries to defend itself from Russia’s attack. That political infighting among Republicans could get in the way of progress on Farm Bill negotiations.
Axios has the story of the Republican versus Republican tensions. See that here.
