Both the Senate and House are back at work this week with a backlog of unfinished business and fallout from the government shutdown to tackle. 

Partisan tensions over federal food aid persist after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program beneficiaries will have to reapply for benefits amid alleged fraud.

It is not yet clear whether the department plans a significant departure from current certification requirements. But Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., reacted to her announcement by saying it was “completely unacceptable,” and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said the move would only make it harder for working people to get needed benefits. 

Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up for a December debate on Affordable Care Act subsidies with a hearing on Wednesday. The Senate Finance Committee will take a look at healthcare costs Wednesday as the loss of enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act looms at the end of the year.

Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told CNN on Sunday the Trump administration is open to continuing the expiring subsidies for ACA policies as long as there are reforms to the program.

“There are discussions around extending subsidies if we deal with the fraud, waste and abuse that right now is paralyzing the system. There are ways of using our money wisely by putting it in the pockets of Americans,” Oz said.

Farmers in particular are seeing higher estimates for premiums, in part due to geography: They live in areas where there aren’t as many insurance choices. They’re also more likely to be in the age group absorbing the largest increases, according to estimates by the nonprofit group KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation.

A KFF map with estimates by congressional district shows large patches where premiums will rise by 200% or more. It includes all of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, virtually all of Kansas, and the states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

The increase is for a benchmark Silver plan without the enhanced tax credits, for a 60-year-old making 401% of the poverty level.

Farmer assistance on deck? 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last month that an announcement on assistance for farmers hurting from export losses would come once the shutdown ended. With government employees back at work, all eyes are on USDA for signs of its next move.

In late September, the administration shifted $13 billion to the secretary’s office to fund an assistance program and multiple ag-state lawmakers tell Agri-Pulse the package is "teed up" and ready to go.

“I don't know whether they'll be ready by next week, but I think it'll be soon,” House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said on Wednesday. Asked about the possible timing, a USDA spokesperson told Agri-Pulse on Friday evening there is “nothing new to share at this time.” 

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Exactly how much the administration will dole out to farmers to compensate for export losses is still unclear, however. Since the administration moved the $13 billion to fund the bailout, the U.S. has agreed terms of a deal with China to ease trade tensions and Beijing has resumed some purchases of soybeans and other commodities – albeit in modest quantities.

USDA's' Commodity Credit Corporation also saw its full borrowing authority of $30 billion restored as part of the legislation that reopened the government. 

Whatever the size of the first assistance announcement, lawmakers are gearing up for a multi-step approach. Thompson said the forthcoming package, which is likely to be similar to the Market Facilitation Program operated during the first Trump administration, would only constitute a “first tranche” of assistance. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., also told Agri-Pulse late last month that it wouldn’t be a “one-shot deal.”

“I think they're going to need some appropriations,” Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley told reporters Friday. “Congress's role will be putting in more money if the secretary of agriculture doesn't have the money on hand.”

Push for E15 loses Big Oil backing

With only a few working weeks left this year on Capitol Hill, the corn industry is pushing to get legislation passed to allow year-round sales of higher ethanol blends, or E15, across the country. 

The White House held a meeting with ethanol stakeholders last week on the issue, a development praised by Grassley. “I’m glad the administration is finally taking this issue very seriously,” he told reporters. “It will have a big impact on what farmers get for corn.” 

The American Petroleum Institute has pulled its support for E15 legislation in protest of other biofuel policies the oil lobbying group says will hurt refiners and consumers. How API uses its leverage to potentially spur changes in federal biofuel-blending regulations could determine whether E15 becomes law anytime soon.

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

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Monday, Nov. 17

The United Nations  COP30 climate change conference, through Friday, Brazil.

Ag Aviation Expo, through Wednesday, Reno, Nevada. 

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

Tuesday, Nov. 18

9.30 a.m. – The International Food Policy Research Institute will host a policy seminar on “Trading the Crosswinds: Macroeconomic Outlook, Trade Policy Uncertainty, and Agricultural Commodity Markets.”

2 p.m. – USDA releases Fruit and Tree Nuts and Vegetables and Pulses data. 

Wednesday, Nov. 19

National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual convention, through Friday, Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas Agri Business Expo, through Thursday, Wichita, Kansas.  

Sustainable Agriculture Summit, through Thursday, Anaheim, California.

9:30 a.m. – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Bureau of Land Management’s land use planning process under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 366 Dirksen.

9.30 a.m. – IFPRI will host a policy seminar on “The Impact of Global Change on Food Security in 2050: Assessing the Risks Through the Lens of Food Trade.”

9:45 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee meeting to consider the nominations of Jeffrey Goettman to be a deputy U.S. trade representative, Julie Callahan to be chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Thomas Bell to be inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, 215 Dirksen. 

10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the future of PFAS cleanup and disposal policy, 562 Dirksen.

10 a.m. – Senate Finance hearing, “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for all Americans,” 215 Dirksen.10 a.m. – House Natural Resources subcommittee legislative hearing on bills including the FISH Act, 1324 Longworth. 

2 p.m. – Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 226 Dirksen.

3 p.m. – Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the nomination of Michael Selig to be commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 328A Russell.

Thursday, Nov. 20

Friday, Nov. 21

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

3 p.m. – USDA releases Cattle on Feed, Chickens and Eggs, and Milk Production reports.

For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.