House Republicans will seek to push through critical portions of their massive budget package this week, including elements of the farm bill, cuts to nutrition assistance and expanded tax benefits. 

The House Agriculture, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committee all plan to start consideration Tuesday of their pieces of the budget reconciliation bill that Republicans hope to use to enact President Donald Trump's top legislative priorities. 

The Agriculture Committee is charged with making a net reduction of $230 billion of 10 years, requiring deep cuts to projected Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending that will in part offset increased funding for commodity programs, crop insurance and other parts of the farm bill. 

The Ways and Means Committee will consider tax provisions that would extend and in some cases expand expiring provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

The 28-page draft text of the Ways and Means bill would increase the Section 199A business income deduction for small businesses from 20% to 22%. The estate tax exemption would be increased from $14 million to $15 million per individual. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is charged with cutting $880 billion to come from cuts to Medicaid. 

As of last week, House Ag Republicans were generally aligned on expanding SNAP work requirements, but a proposed state cost-share requirement ruffled some feathers. Republican Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Zach Nunn of Iowa and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin all raised issues with how this would impact their states’ budgets. Instead, they wanted to factor SNAP error rates into the required cost share. 

Nunn said his state has had high error rates, but dramatically improved after a federal fine. 

“Carrot and stick methods do work,” Nunn said. “I didn’t see any of that out of the bill that was proposed.” . 

Before leaving Washington on Thursday, Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., said he thinks the committee is in a good spot and does agree there should be some incentive for states to lower SNAP error rates. 

Democrats are preparing to put their Republican colleagues under pressure for potential SNAP cuts, even as final details about the bill text were scarce ahead of the markup. 

“It is just about being prepared, knowing where our values are, our priorities are, which are for the American people, for families, veterans, you know, children and also for our farmers,” said Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii. 

Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., also plans to push back on any efforts to move pieces of the farm bill into the reconciliation package. “That should be negotiated in an omnibus farm bill that should be negotiated with Democrats and Republicans,” Budzinski said. “So I'm going to be very skeptical of any of those type of initiatives that get included in this markup.”

While Democrats are unlikely to see many Republicans crossing the aisle to support amendments in the markup, there’s a chance farm bill provisions get some pushback from GOP Freedom Caucus members.

Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture leaders are looking at how they can move $70 billion in farm bill safety net programs into the reconciliation bill when the Senate takes up the legislation, Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said. 

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who sits on the Ag Committee and chairs the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said the funds would include crop insurance, Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage funding. 

Hoeven added that the committee is also looking at spending cuts for reconciliation like work requirements and other accountability measures. He said the Senate side is waiting to see what the House brings forward on the state cost-share idea, and will see how that proposal goes. 

Rollins heads to UK for trade discussions

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins is heading to the United Kingdom this week on her first of six international trade visits to spur U.S. exports and slash the U.S. trade deficit. During the visit that runs through Wednesday, she is slated to meet senior UK officials, visit facilities importing U.S. ag products and assess how the administration can boost the position of U.S. products in the UK market, according to a USDA statement on the trip. 

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Her visit comes fresh off the announcement of an “agreement in principle” for a U.S.-UK trade deal, the first of what the administration is billing as a spate of trade pacts signed to loosen U.S. tariffs in exchange for improved market access for U.S. products. U.S. beef and ethanol featured prominently in the deal, with the UK agreeing to some tariff-free access for U.S. beef and ethanol, providing it meets the UK’s food standards. 

Rollins told reporters on Thursday that it’s hard to overstate “what this means to American farmers and ranchers,” particularly in the beef sector. 

“I don't know if there's an industry that has been treated more unfairly and has suffered more than our agriculture industry,” Rollins noted. 

Meanwhile this week, the Senate Finance Committee will hear about the impacts of U.S. tariff escalations on the U.S. soy industry when American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland testifies during a hearing on critical supply chains. 

An ASA spokesperson tells Agri-Pulse Ragland will highlight turmoil in fertilizer, seed and farm equipment supply chains that is burdening farmers with new costs, and warn lawmakers of what is at stake if U.S.-China tariffs remain at current levels. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese officials in Switzerland over the weekend in the first high-level talks between the two countries since the tit-for-tat tariff hikes last month. Trump has also suggested new U.S. tariffs on China could soon fall from their current rate of 145% but has so far declined to acquiesce to Beijing’s demand that he lower duties ahead of any negotiations.

RFK on Hill

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also make back-to-back appearances on Capitol Hill on Wednesday before the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee and then the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. 

There a long list of issues that RFK Jr. could be challenged on, from vaccine policy to the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):

Monday, May 12

Food Safety Summit through Thursday, Rosemont, Illinois. 

The National Confectioner’s Association hosts Sweets and Snacks Expo through Thursday, Indianapolis. 

Noon – USDA releases monthly Crop Production report and the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

4 p.m. – USDA releases Crop Progress report.

Tuesday, May 13

The Meat Institute hosts Animal Care & Handling Conference, Denver. 

8:30 a.m. – Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the monthly Consumer Price Index.

9:30 a.m. – The International Food Policy Research Institute hosts a seminar on the “2025 Outlook for Wheat, Maize, and Soybean Crops.”

1 p.m. – House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting to begin considering its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, 2123 Rayburn.

1 p.m. – The Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy holds a webinar on “Shaping the Future of Food: Farm Conservation Programs.” 

2 p.m. – House Ways and Means Committee meeting to begin considering its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, 1100 Longworth.

3 p.m. – Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, “Perspectives from the Field, Part 4: Conservation,” 328 Russell. 

7:30 p.m. – House Agriculture Committee meeting to begin considering its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, 1300 Longworth. 

Wednesday, May 14

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers hosts Construction on the National Mall through Friday. 

9:30 a.m. – House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 2358 Rayburn. 

9:30 a.m. – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Jonathan Brightbill to be general counsel and Tina Pierce to be chief financial officer at the Department of Energy, 366 Dirksen. 

9:30 a.m. – The International Food Policy Research Institute hosts a webinar titled, “How vulnerable are economies to systemic risks? New approaches to assessing economic and climate-related shocks.”

10 a.m. – House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee hearing, “Forecasting Disaster: NOAA’s Transparency, Trust, and Scientific Integrity in Crisis,” 2318 Rayburn.

10 a.m. – House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, 2358 Rayburn. 

10 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee hearing, “Trade in Critical Supply Chains,” 215 Dirksen. 

10:15 a.m. – House Natural Resources Committee member day hearing, 1324 Longworth. 

10:30 a.m. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, 124 Dirksen. 

10:30 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Adam Telle to serve as assistant secretary of the army for civil works, 562 Dirksen. 

1:30 p.m. - Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing with RFK Jr., 430 Dirksen. 

Thursday, May 15

8:30 a.m. – Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the monthly Producer Price Index.

8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.

10 a.m. – House Committee on Natural Resources subcommittee hearing. “Fix Our Forests: How Improved Land Management Can Protect Communities in the Wildland-Urban Interface,” 1324 Longworth. 

10 a.m. – Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee. “Pipeline Safety Reauthorization: Ensuring the Safe and Efficient Movement of American Energy,” 253 Russell. 

10 a.m. – House Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee hearing with Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, 2358 Rayburn. 

10 a.m. – House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, 2008 Rayburn. 

10 a.m. – House Financial Services-General Government hearing with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, 2362 Rayburn. 

1 p.m. – Center for American Progress webinar titled, “Farms and Families in Crisis: The Trump Administration’s Assault on America’s Food System.” 

Friday, May 16 

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