Passing a new farm bill this year is still a long shot, but the House Agriculture Committee’s plan to mark up a bill on May 23 could help some vulnerable Republicans while also putting additional political pressure on a handful of Democrats who are in close re-election races.
Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., insists he wants bipartisan support for his bill, but there have been no signs yet of cracks in Democratic opposition to some of his provisions.
Thompson acknowledged in an interview with Agri-Pulse that reporting a bill out of committee would help Republican members of the panel who are in swing districts, but in a subtle jab at Democrats suggested they too could benefit from moving his bill.
The bill is “going to help any member no matter what their political affiliation is if they represent to any degree those who produce, those who process and those who consume. Because the nutrition title’s going to be a pretty strong title with the chairman’s mark,” he said.
At least eight Democrats on the committee as well as six Republicans face tough re-election races this year.
Thompson hasn’t released details of his bill, only a broad outline, but it includes some provisions that could appeal to Democrats, including a provision to roll back the ban on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for people convicted of drug felonies.
But Thompson also has insisted on including restrictions on future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), a model of food costs that is used to set SNAP benefit levels. The TFP restrictions have emerged as the key partisan flashpoint in the leadup to the committee’s farm bill markup.
The committee’s ranking member, Georgia Democrat David Scott, reiterated to Agri-Pulse this week that committee Democrats remain unified, but some at least are listening to GOP appeals.
House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who released a detailed section-by-section of her draft bill last week, are scheduled to meet Thursday with Democratic members of the committee. Democrats on the committee also are expected to meet with each other this week, and Thompson said he will be meeting separately with Stabenow.
“Right now, I believe everyone is going through the process looking at all the details now,” said North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, one of four Democrats seeking re-election in races rated as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report. “Obviously, I know there’s a strong desire for us to stand united.”
“This is an ongoing process, and this is an opportunity for members to ask questions, weigh in,” Davis said of the meetings this week. Davis represents a sprawling, largely rural district in the northeastern part of the state.
Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.In an interview with Agri-Pulse, Davis said both Thompson and Scott, the committee’s top Democrat, “want a bipartisan farm bill. But beyond that, I know America needs a good bipartisan farm bill.”
The other committee Democrats who are in races rated toss-ups are Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, who represents a district that stretches from the northern suburbs of Denver to the cattle feeding center of Greeley; Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington. All four are serving their first term in Congress.
Four more Democrats on the committee are rated as slight favorites in their re-election bids: Angie Craig of Minnesota, Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, Eric Sorensen of Illinois and Andrea Salinas of Oregon.
Thursday’s meeting with Stabenow will allow committee Democrats to hear directly from her about her draft, which differs markedly from what Thompson has proposed. She released her section-by-section analysis within hours of Thompson releasing the outline of his planned legislation on May 1.
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“I think that will be a very useful meeting,” said Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga. “I think that we’ll be able to hash out where we are and probably come together with a unified position on Democratic priorities."
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News of the planned meeting with Stabenow and Jeffries rankled some Republicans who said in a post on X, “And to think people said we were crazy for thinking the retiring senator was meddling in the affairs of the House...”
Vulnerable Republicans on the committee are John Duarte of California, Marc Molinaro of New York and Lori Chaves-DeRemer of Oregon, all in races rated as toss-ups. Zach Nunn of Iowa, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin are rated as slight favorites.
Ferd Hoefner, a policy consultant who was the long-time policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, believes Thompson’s primary goal for the committee markup is to help Republicans in swing districts this fall. The vulnerable Democratic seats represent some of the best GOP hopes for holding on to their razor-slim majority in November. Republicans currently hold the House by a bare, 217-213 majority. There are five vacancies.
Ferd HoefnerThe committee markup is intended to protect six Republicans so they can say, ‘We didn't do nothing for two years. We got a bill out of committee.’ And to try to try to get those eight Democrats to take difficult votes,” he said.
The path for a farm bill beyond the House Ag Committee is uncertain at best. Without Democratic support, Thompson would have to keep the GOP conference united on the floor, a nearly impossible task given that some Republicans insist on food aid cuts and are on record supporting cuts in farm spending and reforms to checkoff programs.
Time also is running short to get a farm bill passed this year. The House is only scheduled to be in session for portions of six weeks between Memorial Day and Sept. 9, and then lawmakers will have a brief period to pass legislation to keep the government operating after the end of the fiscal year. Stabenow, meanwhile, says she has no plans to schedule votes on her draft bill.
The last two farm bills to be enacted in presidential election years, in 1996 and 2008, were both signed into law before Memorial Day.
One Republican lobbyist, who didn’t want to be identified because he works with both parties, said he doubted House Speaker Mike Johnson would even put the GOP farm bill on the floor. "I think it would just blow the Republican conference to pieces," the lobbyist said. And he said Stabenow had staked out some positions in her draft bill that would make it harder to ultimately reach a compromise with the House.
He said Thompson’s bill appears intended to be a “marker for what [a farm bill] ought to look like. That will provide some cover to the guys on the committee.”
Jonathan Coppess, a farm policy expert at the University of Illinois who ran USDA’s Farm Service Agency during the Barack Obama administration, sees reason for optimism. Thompson’s decision to keep Inflation Reduction Act funding within the conservation title, rather than shifting some of the money to pay for other priorities, shows some sign of movement.
The lawmakers have at least “opened the door to the negotiations” in his view. But he noted that Thompson’s proposed restrictions on the Thrifty Food Plan remain a key barrier to a deal.
There are other differences large and small between Stabenow and Thompson that could prove significant, if there is movement on the legislation beyond May 23. For one thing, Stabenow insists on keeping IRA conservation funding devoted to climate-smart practices. Her bill also would impose a tighter means test on individuals or entities who want farm payments.
Still, said Coppess, “It has real value that we see both committees, both chairs, putting forward a proposal that could unlock the negotiations that appear to have been locked for over a year now."
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