Senate GOP leaders face a self-imposed deadline to pass their budget reconciliation bill before the July 4 deadline amid ongoing opposition from some deficit hawks and a fresh hole in the budget savings proposed by the Agriculture Committee.

Senate Ag Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., is searching for other possible savings after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that Republicans can’t use the budget reconciliation process to impose a state cost-share for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It would take a 60-vote majority to override a parliamentarian's ruling, a virtual impossibility for the GOP since Republicans only control the Senate, 53-47.

The provision was a major source of an estimated $211 billion in SNAP savings that Boozman was using in part to offset $67 billion in increased spending on farm bill programs.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has expressed determination for getting the bill out of the Senate before next week’s July 4 recess, but it’s not clear he has the necessary votes for the bill. 

“We continue to hear from our members specifically on components or pieces of the bill that they would like to see modified or changed or have concerns about. And we're working through that,” Thune told reporters last week.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objects to the bill because it would increase the federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Thursday that he and two other Republicans, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah, don't believe the bill would cut spending sufficiently.

“I need a commitment to a reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, other Republicans have raised concerns about spending cuts. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Axios cuts to Medicaid are “threatening the entire bill, and we just don't have time for that.”

Also this week, the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled Monday evening to finally finish work on its fiscal 2026 spending bill for USDA, FDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The committee started debating the bill June 11.

An initial draft of the bill would have moved the Food for Peace international food aid program from the State Department to USDA, an idea being pushed by Republicans from farm states. But a manager's amendment approved by the committee June 11 removed that provision from both the bill and the committee report and maintains appropriations for Food for Peace at $900 million, a significant cut that funds the program at its lowest level since 2002.

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins will begin the week providing a keynote address at the Western Governors Association annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Governors from Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming will be present. 

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Earlier this month, Utah became one of six states to restrict SNAP purchases of soda after the Agriculture Department approved their waiver request. Colorado has also submitted a waiver that remains under review. 

Rollins is one of five cabinet secretaries to address the group and engage in policy discussions with the governors. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will also speak at the meeting. 

The Supreme Court is expected to meet this week to consider whether to take a case federal regulations for pesticides override state standards.

Bayer has paid more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits from plaintiffs claiming that exposure to Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that the company failed to adequately warn them of the risks. EPA says glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, "is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans."

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

Monday, June 23

Western Governors’ Association annual meeting, through Tuesday, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

North American Renderers Association Congressional Fly-In through Wednesday.

International Dairy Foods Association Leadership Symposium, through Thursday, Milwaukee. 

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

7:30 p.m. – House Appropriations Committee continues markup of the FY26 Ag Appropriations bill, 2359 Rayburn. 

Tuesday, June 24

National Potato Council Summer Meeting through Friday, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. 

10 a.m. – House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services FY26 Budget, 2123 Rayburn. 

Wednesday, June 25 

Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas Convention through Friday, San Marcos, Texas. 

10 a.m. – House Budget Committee hearing, “Reversing the Curse: Rooting Out Waste and Fraud and Restoring the Dignity of Work,” Cannon 210. 

10 a.m. – Senate Health Labor, Education and Pensions Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Susan Monarez to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 430 Dirksen. 

10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Usha-Maria Turner to be an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 562 Dirksen. 

11 a.m. – USDA releases monthly Food Price Outlook.

Thursday, June 26

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

10 a.m. – House Agriculture subcommittee hearing to review the the U.S. Grain Standards Act, 1300 Longworth. 

10 a.m. – House Natural Resources Federal Lands subcommittee oversight hearing: “Fix Our Forests: Advancing Innovative Technologies to Improve Forest Management and Prevent Wildfires,” 1324 Longworth. 

Friday, June 27 

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