Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins faces back-to-back hearings this week, while House Republican leaders continue their struggle to agree on deep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid that are key to their budget reconciliation plans.
Rollins’ appearances before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday and House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee follow the release of President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget that calls for an 18% cut to USDA programs.
Rollins is likely to get questioned about the spending cuts, which include reductions in ag research, rural development, food aid and conservation technical assistance, as well as the farm economy and USDA staffing and downsizing.
Rollins has said that USDA, which has yet to release the results of two rounds of buyouts, will release a plan this month to reorganize the department. The plan is expected to include moving some portions of the department to other agencies and relocating or laying off additional USDA staff.
The House Agriculture Committee had tentatively planned this week to move its portion of the budget reconciliation bill needed to enact President Donald Trump’s policy priorities, but lawmakers have yet to agree on how to meet the committee’s assigned target of a $230 billion net reduction in spending over 10 years.
A major reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is needed both to help offset the lost revenue from new and extended tax cuts and to cover the cost of increased spending for farm bill programs, including higher reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage program.
The problem facing House Ag Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., is that he can’t meet the $230 billion target and fund farm bill programs without either cutting SNAP benefits or shifting a significant part of the program’s cost onto states.
The latter idea has run into opposition from some House Ag Republicans, including Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis. “Well, right now, SNAP is wholly funded by the federal government, and it's administered by the states. Some of the stuff they're talking about is making the states pick up between 10 and 25% of the SNAP funding,” Van Orden said in an interview last week.
“If it's at 10% that's $137 million for the state of Wisconsin. I called my friends in the assembly, in the Senate this morning, who were on the Joint Finance Committee. I was like, Hey, does Wisconsin have $137 million laying around? The answer is no.”
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., also is balking at the prospect of a state cost share. The $230 billion target “is not going to be very doable. Hopefully the speaker and the team will back off maybe $100 billion, because we don't want to cut benefits for people in need,” Bacon said.
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During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said lawmakers had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get federal spending under control and specifically defended cuts to Medicaid, a program that especially significant for rural health providers.
"We can't get to the president's rocket-ship economy, we cannot usher in the golden age – in fact, we risk a sovereign debt crisis – if we don't deal with the unsustainable deficits and national debt. So, this is a pivotal moment for our country," Arrington said.
More than 100 National Farmers Union members will hit Capitol Hill this week to voice concerns about the rural economy and advocate for the renewal of a five-year farm bill.
With hundreds more participating virtually, the group will engage in meetings to share farmer perspectives on the “perfect storm” challenging farm country. NFU says trade tensions, volatile markets, shrinking federal support, rising input costs and uncertainty around the future of the renewal of a five-year farm bill are mounting on the nation’s producers.
“Family farmers are on edge, and the farm economy is faltering,” said National Farmers Union President Rob Larew. “Without the certainty of a strong, five-year farm bill, farmers are left exposed to mounting risks and instability.”
The group has five farm bill priorities: Strengthening the farm safety net, building upon voluntary conservation programs, creating fairness and opportunity in the marketplace, delivering fast and reliable risk management programs and an ultimate bill with broad support from both farmers and consumers.
Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, May 5
National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch, through Wednesday, Washington.
Food Research Action Center hosts National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference through Tuesday, Washington.
4 p.m. – House Rules Committee meeting to consider H.R. 276 to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, H-313 Capitol.
4 p.m. – USDA releases Crop Progress report.
Tuesday, May 6
10:00 a.m. – House Ag Committee hearing, “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets: A Blueprint for the 21st Century,” 1300 Longworth.
10:30 a.m. – Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies with Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins to consider the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of Agriculture, 124 Dirksen.
3 p.m. – Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committee hearing to consider the Fix Our Forests Act, Russell 328.
CPDA Adjuvants, Inerts & Crop Protection Conference, Florida. Agri-Pulse Publisher Sara Wyant provides a keynote speech.
Wednesday, May 7
10 a.m. – Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration to consider the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of Agriculture, 2362A Rayburn.
10 a.m. – Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development to consider the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of Energy, 2359 Rayburn.
2:00 p.m. – House Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security oversight hearing for the The Federal Emergency Management Agency with acting administrator Cam Hamilton, 2008 Rayburn.
Thursday, May 8
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
10:00 a.m. – Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing considering the nomination of James O’Neill to serve as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, 430 Dirksen.
Friday, May 9
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