Senate Republicans face a critical test of their loyalty to President Donald Trump as they head toward debate on a $9.4 billion package of funding cuts to foreign assistance and public broadcasting that the White House is asking Congress to affirm.
Senators are still largely in the dark about the finer details of the administration’s rescissions package, which has already passed the GOP-controlled House.
The package includes a $2.5 billion cut in "development assistance" over concerns that the programs clash with “American values,” undermine other governments’ sovereignty and bankroll “corrupt” leaders, according to a Federal Register notice on the package.
The development assistance account would likely include funding for the Feed the Future initiative and projects aimed at improving food security in very poor countries, according to a former official with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
As part of the dismantling of the USAID, the administration ended much of its food security work, including by slashing funding for all but one Feed the Future innovation lab.
Multiple senators told Agri-Pulse last week they are hoping to get more information on whether U.S. food security work is included as part of the rescissions package.
“There’s concern about that,” Senate Ag Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., said last week. “A lot of members are trying to understand better exactly what they want to cut.” But Boozman added that he believes senators will receive more information ahead of any vote.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is also concerned about the fate of U.S. food security and ag innovation work.
“I've expressed interest in those programs and how rescission would affect them,” Moran said. Like Boozman, Moran said that he also wants additional information from the administration to “understand better what precision actually means.”
As of Friday, Moran wouldn’t say how he would vote on the package.
Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans vote for the package if they want his support in coming elections.
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” Trump said in a social media post.
Ripe for withdrawal
The notice period for the U.S. withdrawal from an agreement with Mexico suspending antidumping duties on tomato imports ends on Monday, paving the way for new duties on incoming tomato shipments.
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The Commerce Department announced in April that it would walk away from the tomato suspension agreement signed in 2019. Rep. Kat Cammack, Florida Farm Bureau and the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association celebrated the news.
"This has been a priority of ours for years in Florida," said Rep. Cammack in a release. "For half a decade now, our producers have been subject to an unfair marketplace. In the past five years alone, Mexican tomato producers have violated the suspension agreement over 100 times. The economic impact of these violations has been catastrophic on our domestic tomato producers."
But an intense lobbying effort urging the administration to reverse or delay its decision by the Mexican government and growers, as well as U.S. tomato importers, growers with cross-border operations, agricultural groups and lawmakers in Arizona and Texas has ramped up in recent days and weeks.
Agri-Pulse reported last week that conversations within Commerce about a possible delay for the U.S. withdrawal were continuing, according to a person familiar with the situation. Advocates were eyeing President Donald Trump’s visit to Texas on Friday as an opportunity for a last-ditch appeal to the decisionmaker-in-chief before the 17% duties snap into place.
Dante Galeazzi, CEO at the Texas International Produce Association, told Agri-Pulse on Friday he’s hoping lawmakers meeting with Trump would take the opportunity to raise the issue.
The issue has garnered significant attention across the Texas legislature. The state economy benefits from tomato imports, and Texas lawmakers adopted a resolution last month that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law urging Commerce to stay in the deal.
“It would not surprise me in the least to see an announcement be made late on Monday,” Galeazzi said. Such an announcement could reverse the decision to withdraw or, more likely, Galeazzi said, institute a 90-day pause to give more time to explore alternative options.
“We don't want to turn tomatoes into the new egg crisis,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, said during a press conference in Texas on Friday morning.
More tariff letters due
The president is likely to continue reaching out to trade partners this week to let them know what tariff rates they can expect to face on Aug. 1 – the new deadline for higher country-specific tariffs.
Trump’s letters have already inflamed trade tensions with some countries. The president issued fresh tariff threats to Brazil and Canada last week and announced higher duties on the European Union and Mexico over the weekend.
This week is likely to bring further letters, as well as further fallout, as leaders react to the new rates. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has already vowed to retaliate if the U.S. presses ahead with the duties. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney have both pledged to defend their interests as they continue to find a way forward in trade talks.
The EU's pause on a package of retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. exports, including soybeans, corn and a host of other food products, was set to expire this week. Von der Leyen told reporters on Sunday, however, that the start date would be moved to early August to allow for further negotiations.
As more tariff rates are revealed, the administration is also likely to face further scrutiny over its methodology.
“Certain questions are being raised,” former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler said during a webinar on Friday. She pointed to the Philippines receiving a tariff reduction that brings the country to a 20% tariff rate, the same duty rate that the U.S. is planning to keep in place on Vietnamese products, despite the latter engaging in extensive negotiations and offering sweeteners to the administration.
“Everyone's going to be looking at what everyone else is getting,” Cutler said. “It's just getting increasingly complex, with lots of different factors on all of these countries’ minds as they go forward in this negotiation.”
House appropriators debate FY26 bills
With the House back in session this week, the House Appropriations Committee will return to work on its fiscal 2026 bill with less than three months left in FY25.
The committee is set to bring out bills that include funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department, Transportation Department and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, July 14
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives annual Washington Conference through Wednesday, Washington.
National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress through Thursday, Washington.
American Hort hosts Cultivate’25 through Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
Southwestern Fertilizer Conference through Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee.
Institute of Food Technologists meeting and food expo through Wednesday in Chicago.
School Nutrition Association national conference through Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas.
4 p.m. – USDA releases Crop Progress report.
5 p.m. – House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee meeting to consider its fiscal 2026 bill, 2358 Rayburn.
6 p.m. – House Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee meeting to consider its FY26 bill, H-140 Capitol.
Tuesday, July 15
American Soybean Association board of directors meeting and Capitol Hill visits through Thursday, Washington.
Renewable Fuels Association board of directors meeting and Capitol Hill visits through Wednesday, Washington.
10 a.m. – House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee meeting to consider its FY26 bill, 2358 Rayburn.
10 a.m. – House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry hearing on “Safeguarding U.S. Agriculture: The Role of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN)”
10:15 a.m. – House Natural Resources Committee meeting to consider the “Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Amendment Act of 2025” and “Direct Hire to Fight Fires” bills, among others, 1324 Longworth.
1 p.m. – University of Illinois webinar: “Changes to Commodity and Crop Insurance Programs in the OBBBA.”
2 p.m. – House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources at the U.S. Department of State, “FY26 State Department Posture: Management and Resources,” 2172 Rayburn.
3:30 p.m. – Senate Agriculture Committee hearing to “examine stakeholder perspectives on federal oversight of digital commodities,” 106 Dirksen.
Wednesday, July 16
10 a.m. – House Science, Space, and Technology Environment Subcommittee hearing, “Protecting Lives and Property: Harnessing Innovative Technologies to Enhance Weather Forecasting,” 2318 Rayburn.
10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to consider the surface transportation reauthorization bill, 562 Dirksen.
2 p.m. – House Agriculture General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit Subcommittee hearing,“Financing Farm Operations: The Importance of Credit and Risk Management,” 1300 Longworth.
Thursday, July 17
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
10 a.m. – House Appropriations Committee to meeting to consider the FY26 Transportation-HUD and Energy-Water bills, 2359 Rayburn.
Friday, July 18
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
