Inside the rising House farm bill tensions

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Apr 15, 2024 View in browser   By Meredith Lee Hill Presented by  With help from Marcia Brown QUICK FIX — Tensions are rising on Capitol Hill as House Ag Republicans push to unveil a draft of the $1.5 trillion farm bill by Memorial Day. — House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) is also considering a “slimmed down” proposal in the farm bill to block California’s Prop. 12 animal welfare law, amid intense lobbying and divided Republicans. — Donald Trump is eyeing a former rodeo cowboy turned bomb-throwing Texas agriculture commissioner to lead USDA if he wins a second term as president. HAPPY MONDAY, APRIL 15. I’m your host, Meredith Lee Hill. Welcome to Grace Yarrow, who is going to head up Morning Ag starting next week. Follow her @YarrowGrace. A message from CropLife America: U.S. farmers’ access to pesticides, which are critical for growing crops in an affordable and sustainable way, is in jeopardy because of misguided state regulatory efforts. Over 360 agricultural and other groups support the bipartisan Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act to help the U.S. correct course while still allowing for local use case restrictions. Find out how the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act protects America’s farmers.   Driving the day Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) walks through the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 11, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO HIGH ALERT: Pressure is mounting around the House’s long-delayed farm bill as Ag Chair Thompson moves ahead with his plans to unveil a draft of the legislation and hold a committee markup by Memorial Day. Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a deep impasse over key nutrition, climate and farm safety net funding in the bill for more than a year. Vulnerable House Ag Democrats — including some of the most at-risk Democrats this fall — are now caught between their interest in voting for a farm bill and senior Democrats saying for months that touching any nutrition and climate funds are redlines in the talks. To be clear, unless Republicans can secure significant Democratic support, a farm bill isn’t going to pass on the House floor this year. The outlook for Congress approving a new reauthorization is still bleak and the lame duck session may be the only remaining chance. Keep in mind: A fair number of House Democrats would rather punt the farm bill to next year, with the hope that they’ll win control of the lower chamber this fall. They’re also extremely wary of a farm bill getting to the floor under regular order, for fear that hardline Republicans will take over the legislation like what happened with the annual defense bill. But the planned Ag Committee markup is very likely the only vote about a dozen vulnerable House Democrats and several others in key rural districts will take on the farm bill before their tough races this November. WHO TO WATCH: Reps. Don Davis (D-N.C.), Gabe Vasquez(D-N.M.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.). Also keep an eye on: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who is leaving the House to run for governor of Virginia, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who is running to succeed Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow in Michigan’s Senate race. Tensions flare: House Ag Democrats are still trying to find their way forward in the farm bill talks. They held a heated closed-door meeting last Thursday and are “floundering” over a possible counteroffer to the GOP’s latest proposal, according to a Democrat who participated in the meeting, as your host and Garrett reported. House Ag Republicans have put forward a list of spending offsets to pay for the $1.5 trillion bill — many of which Democrats have railed against. In their meeting, panel Democrats discussed this one-pager on the farm bill that ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) asked House Ag Republicans to compile. The latest GOP proposal includes making future Thrifty Food Plan updates that serve as the basis of SNAP food benefits budget-neutral, while rolling roughly $13 billion in Inflation Reduction Act climate-agriculture dollars into current farm bill conservation programs. The climate parameters around the IRA funding would still need to be negotiated. Also notably, billions in current funding from the USDA’s internal CCC fund would go to a boost for crop reference prices, crop insurance and other programs. Something else to watch: The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is strongly pushing back on the House GOP plans for the Thrifty Food Plan. CBPP has enormous influence with many Democrats on Capitol Hill, who generally view TFP as the main vehicle for increasing federal food benefits for years to come. Stacy Dean, one of the top USDA officials currently overseeing SNAP, was a senior official at the organization before she joined the Biden administration.   Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Use our Legislative Tracker to see what’s on the Albany agenda. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more.     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. FARM BILL BATTLES EATS ACT FIGHT: Thompson is also pursuing a potentially “slimmed down version” of the EATS Act in his farm bill draft, Marcia reports. But he has only a few weeks to find a compromise on the issue that has divided GOP lawmakers and sparked intense lobbying from animal welfare and other interests. A Republican committee aide said they “are looking at a slimmed down version targeting livestock.” The proposal would not cover eggs, but they are also considering applying the language to dairy products, according to the aide. Read the full story. VALADAO, SLOTKIN DIG IN: As ag groups gear up for the farm bill fight, vulnerable House Republican David Valadao, who hails from an ag-heavy district in California, is reestablishing the Congressional Specialty Crop Caucus, along with House Ag members Slotkin and Jim Costa (D-Calif.). ISRAEL AID: Also on the Hill, there's new urgency for Congress to pass its stalled foreign aid bill following Iran’s weekend aerial attack on Israel. But it’s still unclear if Speaker Mike Johnson will keep the Senate’s $10 billion in global food and humanitarian aid, including for Gaza, in any final package.   A message from CropLife America:   CAMPAIGN 2024 TRUMP’S SECOND TERM USDA PLANS: Trump has indicated to some allies that controversial cowboy Sid Miller is a leading prospect for the top post at USDA, your host reported late last week. Sid Miller, a MAGA loyalist, has warred with agriculture interests and threatened to “hunt” moderate “RINO” Republicans back home, including those who won reelection in 2024 or, as Miller put it, “slipped the noose.” And he has been investigated, but not charged, for misusing state funds for travel to a rodeo. For the Agriculture Department — and food and agriculture policy, writ large — Miller’s nomination would represent a seismic shift. Farm bill: Miller could also play a key role in shaping the next farm bill should the current Congress end up punting it into 2025. Some former Trump officials dismiss the idea that Trump would ultimately put a lightning rod like Miller in charge of USDA. Other USDA prospects: Kip Tom, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and Nebraska’s Ag Director Sherry Vinton. Read the full story here.   POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today.     Row Crops — Sens. John Boozman (Ark.) and Bill Cassidy (La.), the top Republicans on the Agriculture and HELP committees, are pressing USDA and HHS in a new letter for more information on how the Biden administration is developing its federal nutrition guidelines.  — The American Farm Bureau Federation and other powerful agriculture groups are weighing in on a stalled tax package on Capitol Hill.  THAT’S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: gyarrow@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com. A message from CropLife America: 360+ agricultural groups back the bipartisan Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act to protect our food supply, farmers’ livelihoods, and the environment. Some states are trying to enact pesticide labeling requirements that directly contradict scientific guidance from the EPA, jeopardizing farmers’ access to pesticides—a critical input for growing crops. If not addressed, this will create an unworkable patchwork of regulations that directly impacts the availability of these essential products for farmers—lowering yields, increasing farmers’ costs, threatening domestic food security, and ultimately, raising prices for consumers, while erasing decades of conservation gains. The Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act ensures these products remain available while not affecting state and localities' ability to restrict pesticide use, or any individual’s rights in the legal process. Learn more.     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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