Scoop: What the speaker chaos means for the farm bill

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Jan 09, 2023 View in browser   By Garrett Downs and Meredith Lee Hill With help from Marcia Brown QUICK FIX — The protracted GOP chaos over electing a speaker has wide implications for the farm bill, as some Freedom Caucus members are eyeing a similar showdown over the massive legislation that will need to move through Congress this year, according to several GOP members. The top Republican on the House Ag Committee also called out the GOP detractors, telling MA they were "burning daylight." — Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack urged the Federal Maritime Commission to strengthen its proposed rule on ocean carriers' unreasonable refusals to negotiate or deal. It's part of the commission's rollout of new regulations required by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.  — Deere & Co. signed a memo of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation at AFBF's annual meeting in Puerto Rico.The agreement will give farmers and independent mechanics the ability to buy diagnostics and other tools to make repairs. The MOU also stipulates that AFBF will pull back its advocacy for state right-to-repair legislation. HAPPY MONDAY, JAN. 9. Welcome to Morning Ag. We're your hosts, Garrett Downs and Meredith Lee Hill. Send tips to gdowns@politico.com and meredithlee@politico.com, and follow us @Morning_Ag.   JOIN NEXT TUESDAY TO HEAR FROM MAYORS AROUND AMERICA: 2022 brought in a new class of mayors leading "majority minority" cities, reshaping who is at the nation's power tables and what their priorities are. Join POLITICO to hear from local leaders on how they're responding to being tested by unequal Covid-19 outcomes, upticks in hate crimes, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, inflation and a potential recession. REGISTER HERE.     Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Driving the Day A WEEK TO REMEMBER: The first week of the 118th Congress ended with Kevin McCarthy securing the speaker's gavel, amid a heated intraparty battle that nearly came to blows on the House floor. The protracted chaos has wide implications for the farm bill — including holding up work on the bill and complicating its eventual path to passage. First things first: The House Ag Committee isn't even fully formed yet due to the speaker fight delays. In addition, the marathon vote series that ended around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning forced incoming Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) to postpone the first bipartisan farm bill listening session, which was slated for later that same day. It'll now be this Friday, Jan. 13, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center. MA will be there, so stay tuned. Chitter chatter: Committee member Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) was one of the 20 holdouts against McCarthy, a move that widely worried her fellow House Ag colleagues, including Thompson, as they look ahead to getting the farm bill across the House floor this year. "I have no idea why Mrs. Miller's not coming on board with House Republicans when we had a nomination process [late last year]," Thompson said on Thursday as Miller and the GOP rebels were still holding out. "I'm anxious to get started on [the farm bill] and these folks are burning daylight," Thompson added. "Every day is a lifetime in a year where you start the year out behind on the farm bill. So they need to get on board with the team. And we need to go to work." Here's what other House Ag members told your host and Meredith amid the speaker meltdown last week: Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.): "Frankly, we're probably several months behind where we need to be. So rather than stick that blame on any particular member of the current House, I would say that we probably could have had leadership on the committee in the last two years be a little more aggressive in their timeline." Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa): "I mean, although this other stuff, ancillary stuff is happening, the bigger picture is there's a lot of stuff that's happening behind the scenes. Certainly for the farm bill." WHAT IT ALL MEANS: With a razor thin and disparate majority, any farm bill will likely require even more bipartisan support than in the past. Some Freedom Caucus members are already eyeing a similar showdown over the farm bill. That means the House GOP will likely not be able to secure major cuts to food assistance or other major reforms, which would repel Democrats. Kevin's concessions: Even more importantly, it's possible some of the concessions McCarthy made to Freedom Caucus members in order to clinch the speakership will complicate how, or even if, a farm bill gets to the floor. It will be another layer of political calculus for Republican leadership and House Ag Chair Thompson as he begins serious farm bill talks in the coming months. Thompson tried to be optimistic in his assessment as the speaker meltdown unfolded last week. "I've got a couple Freedom Caucus folks on the committee and they do a good job," Thompson told MA. "And here's the thing: In the end, the farm bill is always bipartisan." House Ag's new look: GOP Reps. Marc Molinaro (N.Y.) and Derrick Van Orden (Wis.) have asked for roles on the committee. Van Orden said the farm bill has "got to go through." "And so if there's one or two folks in the Republican conference that don't want to vote for it, it's my understanding that generally speaking that there will be Democrats that will want to vote for the bill because it really helps a lot of people," Van Orden said. "I'm in an agricultural district and it really helps a lot of us." Democrats, especially on House Ag, said the speaker race chaos only spells trouble for getting must-pass government funding and farm bill legislation across the finish line this Congress.  Miller's role especially was a source of concern, since Republicans expect her to be on the Ag Committee again this Congress. House Ag member Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), asked if he was concerned about Miller's role in the holdout and the impact on the farm, replied, "talk to her constituents and how they feel about — and the realization that, someone like that who is not here to govern, who's not here to support probably most likely the number one industry in her district." Miller's constituents "are gonna have to hold her accountable if that's her attitude going into this, being on the [Ag] committee knowing that this is the one major bill that we do, but then not wanting to do anything about it is unfortunate," Panetta added. Remember: Miller unseated fellow House Ag member Rodney Davis in a member-on-member primary earlier this year.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don't miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     VILSACK MAKES WAVES: Vilsack became the latest official to critique the FMC's proposed rule on defining unreasonable refusals to deal, months after congressional leaders of OSRA 2022 slammed the proposed rule. In a letter to FMC Chair Daniel Maffei, Vilsack makes three suggestions to fix the current proposal including broadening the definition of an unreasonable refusal, narrowing the guidance on "reasonableness" and encouraging carrier practices to guard against engaging in unreasonable refusal. Remember: The rulemaking is mandated by OSRA 2022, which Congress passed in response to ocean carriers leaving U.S. ports without exports, only to return with more profitable imports. Ag goods were left high and dry on the docks, oftentimes to rot. The rulemaking would define when carriers are being unreasonable in denying an export request, which could result in penalization. Broadening the definition: Vilsack says the commission should explicitly name so-called "effective refusals" in its definition of refusals to deal. These can be practices like no-notice cancellations, perpetual service rollovers and failure to furnish shipping containers and chassis needed for transport. "A more useful definition would name actions," Vilsack wrote. Narrowing reasonableness: Like many other critics of the commission's proposed rule, Vilsack takes issue with how broad the commission defines a reasonable refusal to deal. Those reasons can be "profitability," "compatibility with its business development strategy" or "legitimate transportation factors," under the current proposal. Vilsack says the language "leaves USDA wondering whether any refusals to negotiate or deal would be considered unreasonable," and urges FMC to "narrow its language on reasonableness, clarify that the existence of multiple factors will not absolve problematic practices, and focus more on illuminating actions it would consider to be unreasonable." Encouraging carrier action: Vilsack suggested the FMC require "carriers to document and ensure the reasonableness of their practices, including requirements to maintain and comply with documented export strategies, written policies and procedures relating to negotiations and dealings, and certifications by U.S.-based compliance officers affirming and documenting the reasonableness of specific decisions." He suggested any non-confidential pieces of these documents be made public, which will aid carriers and the FMC in enforcing the law. PUT A WRENCH IN IT: AFBF and Deere's memorandum of understanding will ensure farmers have access to their equipment's diagnostic and repair codes, manuals and product guides by formalizing farmers' ability to purchase diagnostic tools from Deere and receive manufacturer assistance when ordering parts and products. Specifically, the MOU also requires Deere to provide independent technicians the tools and software they need for repair "on fair and reasonable terms." It also provides that Deere will not "prevent" farmers and independent technicians from developing their own tools for repair. Some of the repair options offered in the agreement Deere has already made available to farmers and third-party technicians but the deal formalizes these options. But, but, but: As part of the deal, AFBF says it will encourage its state affiliates to "refrain from introducing, promoting, or supporting federal or state 'Right to Repair' legislation that imposes obligations beyond the commitments in this MOU." Spokespeople for Deere and the Farm Bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Context: The deal comes as dozens of states have previously introduced legislation enabling consumers greater access to the tools and diagnostic equipment for repairing everything from farm equipment to home appliances to personal electronics. New York state passed such a law for personal electronics. Advocates for repair expect more states to follow suit this year. Congress has also introduced repair legislation. For its part, Deere advocated to exclude farm equipment from the New York bill and has maintained that farmers and mechanics already have the tools necessary to do the vast majority of repairs. Row Crops — USDA gave conditional approval for a honeybee vaccine, Engadget reports. The jab (not an actual jab, but a feed additive) will protect honeybees from American foulbrood disease. — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he's not interested in Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow's seat.  — Arizona's new attorney general vowed to repeal a land deal with a Saudi farm company, which is being accused of sucking the land dry of water, NBC 12 News in Arizona reports. THAT'S ALL FOR MA. Drop us a line: gdowns@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Emily Cadei @emilycadei Adam Beshudi @ABehsudi Meredith Lee @meredithllee Garrett Downs @_garrettdowns Marcia Brown @Marcia_Brown9   Follow us

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