Anti-hunger advocates are welcoming rulings by the Senate parliamentarian on the GOP budget reconciliation plan. The decisions will force GOP leaders to come up with new cuts to the bill or else accept a higher deficit increase.
The parliamentarian says Republicans would need 60 votes to impose a state cost-share on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and to end benefits to immigrants who don’t have permanent residency or citizenship.
“These are both fundamentally harmful policies that would take food away from low-income people and worsen hunger no matter how policymakers may attempt to rewrite or restructure them to pass muster with Senate rules. Senate Republicans must reject them,” says Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Senate Ag Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., says in a statement he’s looking for other options to cut SNAP.
Why it matters: Senate Ag’s reconciliation provisions would cut the projected cost of SNAP by $211 billion over 10 years and use $67 billion of that to increase funding for farm programs. The parliamentarian’s rulings don’t affect other SNAP provisions, including expanded work requirements.
What’s next: The parliamentarian still must rule on the Senate Finance Committee’s reconciliation provisions, which include cuts to Medicaid.
Senate GOP Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to get the bill through the Senate before the July 4 recess.
For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
USDA to create national SNAP participant database
USDA is proposing a new, centralized database of SNAP recipients it can use to find “ineligible, duplicate or fraudulent transactions.”
In a Federal Register notice, the agency says it intends to pool data from state agencies and SNAP vendors to collect data on SNAP recipients. The goal is to verify “eligibility based on immigration status,” identify and eliminate duplicate enrollments, help states mitigate identity theft, and perform “integrity checks.”
Keep in mind: Students and hunger groups sued USDA last month over data requests the agency had sent to state SNAP administrators and contractors. In a May 6 letter, FNS Senior Policy Adviser for Integrity Gina Brand said the data would be used to “ensure program integrity, including by verifying the eligibility of benefit recipients."
Supreme Court won’t weigh in on Trump’s tariffs, for now
The Supreme Court won’t take up a case challenging President Donald Trump’s tariffs and expedite proceedings ahead of an appeals court decision.
The court on Friday denied a motion from two toy companies to fast-track proceedings and consider their case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit weighs in. The companies won a favorable ruling in the D.C. district court in May, but the Trump administration is appealing the decision.
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In their Supreme Court petition last week, the companies’ lawyers argued the high court will eventually have to settle the question of whether the president can use emergency powers to impose tariffs. Accordingly, they argued that the court should expedite the case, given the sweeping impacts of the new duties.
EuroChem: EU sanctions would hurt U.S. poultry farmers
A European fertilizer company with deep ties to Russia says fresh European Union sanctions would deliver a blow to U.S. farmers, particularly those in the poultry sector.
The EU is set to approve its 18th package of Russian sanctions, which EuroChem says could end up targeting the fertilizer sector. The bloc has already approved tariff hikes on Russian fertilizer to phase in over the next three years, which the European Commission says will weaken Moscow’s war effort.
EuroChem warn in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that any sanctions would “have a dire ripple effect on American farmers,” if they limit options for U.S buyers.
The company says it meets around 7% of U.S. fertilizer demand but has up to 85% of the market for defluorinated phosphate, used by poultry farmers.
“[W]e ask for the help of the United States government in not allowing the European Union to unilaterally dictate global agricultural policy and take down suppliers on whom American farmers, and the world, depend,” the letter reads.
WTO mounts effort to boost SPS transparency
The World Trade Organization says members have agreed to several measures to boost transparency around sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
At a committee meeting last week, WTO members agreed to establish a new working group focused on the issue and pilot a new mentoring program between governments for “knowledge-sharing” and “peer learning.”
Trump speaks again of easing up on farms in immigration crackdown
Trump continues to say he wants to give farmers some relief from his administration’s deportation efforts, even as Immigration and Customs Enforcement insists it’s focusing on criminal activity.
"We're looking at doing something where, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility, because we can't put the farms out of business," Trump told reporters Friday. "And at the same time we don't want to hurt people that aren't criminals."
The administration has sent conflicting signals on the scope of its deportation program. After saying last week it was pausing operations at farms and hospitality site such as hotels and restaurants, it appeared to backtrack on that “carveout” a few days later, leading to confusion in the ag industry.
Final word
“We are continuing to examine options that comply with Senate rules to achieve savings through budget reconciliation to ensure SNAP serves those who truly need it while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.” – Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark.
Philip Brasher, Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
Questions, comments, tips? Email Steve Davies at Agri-Pulse.
