The U.S. House could be debating President Donald Trump’s trade policy next month. That’s because the House GOP leadership may have missed the last opportunity to extend a blockade on holding votes on Trump’s tariffs.
There was no language about extending the freeze on tariff votes in a rule published Thursday for the appropriations minibus. With the House in recess next week, the rule was likely the last chance to extend the block before it expires at the end of January.
Opposition has been mounting to Trump’s emergency tariffs. The Senate has voted to overturn duties on Brazil and Canada, and some GOP House members are growing uneasy. House Democrats have already introduced legislation to force their own votes.
When the House voted to extend the block in September, three holdouts needed cajoling – Reps. Don Bacon, Neb., and California’s Jay Obernolte and Tom McClintock. Bacon told Agri-Pulse this week that he wouldn’t have supported another effort to delay votes.
“Tariffs aren't good on the Midwest,” he said.
If it comes to the floor, Republican leadership could struggle to keep lawmakers in line. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Agri-Pulse he’d want to consider each of the tariffs on its own merits.
Location confirmed for Trump’s Iowa ‘energy independence’ visit
Trump will speak at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa, Tuesday on the first stop of weekly visits across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections. The president is also tentatively set to tour an ethanol facility in the central Iowa area, according to an industry.
“He's going to be out with ag producers. He's going to be out with biofuel producers,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, told Agri-Pulse. “He's going to multiple sites in my district probably because one, this is where biodiesel agriculture has grown. But it's also a very competitive seat.”
Look back: Then-president Joe Biden spoke at a POET Bioprocessing facility in Menlo, Iowa, in 2022.
Lawmakers hopeful Trump gets involved in year-round E15 push
Two Republicans lawmakers spearheading the push for year-round E15 legislation want Trump to break the negotiating impasse.
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., told Agri-Pulse and other reporters on Thursday that momentum is building behind the bill, but that more input from the president could help get it over the finish line.
“I think there's developing arguments in favor of getting this done,” Smith said. “Hopefully the president will help us out.”
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Nunn, the Iowa Republican, said Trump’s intervention would likely be a “key part” in passing the bill.
The White House did not respond to Agri-Pulse’s request for comment.
Why it matters: A last-ditch effort to get the bill included in a 2026 fiscal year appropriations package came up short on Thursday. Instead, Midwestern lawmakers accepted the GOP leadership’s commitment to work with the administration to get legislation moving in February, along with the formation of a study council on biofuel issues.
Corn growers and ethanol industry groups were outraged by the outcome.
“The absence of E15 shows that congressional leadership is choosing to side with a handful of non-U.S. based refineries, rather than the American corn farmer,” Iowa Corn Growers Association President and farmer Mark Mueller said in a statement.
What went wrong: The plan to advance the E15 provision fell apart amid opposition from independent refineries that reject the bill’s provision to narrow the number of companies eligible for small refinery exemptions from U.S. biofuel-blending rules.
Klobuchar files with state to set up gubernatorial campaign committee
The top Democrat on the Senate Ag Committee, Amy Klobuchar, has filed paperwork to set up a campaign committee for a gubernatorial race.
Minnesota Democrats want Klobuchar to run for the post now held by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Walz, beset by controversy surrounding his handling of social services program in the state, decided against a third term last month.
The filing is just the first step in the process. Klobuchar is expected to make a formal announcement “soon,” says Tom Hauser, chief political reporter for KSTP-TV in St. Paul.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. ((AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Senators ask USDA to reinstate buy-up coverage on prevented planting
Senate Ag Committee leaders and 17 other senators want USDA to reverse its decision to remove buy-up coverage on prevented planting.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday, the senators say removing the buy-up coverage option for prevented planting has "caused great concern" among producers. They say the action would impact over 67 million acres and all covered commodities in 2025 alone.
Take note: USDA made the decision to remove buy-up coverage "because Congress has a history of addressing wide-spread flooding through ad-hoc disaster assistance,” according to a Federal Register notice.
USDA launches online portal to report farmland purchases by foreign persons
A new USDA online portal lets people report agricultural land purchases by foreign persons, including businesses and governments.
The new website “is part of a broader effort to strengthen enforcement and protect American farmland as USDA continues its implementation of the National Farm Security Action Plan,” a department news release says.
The portal is available at afida.landmark.usda.gov. “Users can access the portal with Login.gov, a sign in service that provides secure online access to participate in certain government programs and reporting requirements,” the release says.
Central Valley lawmaker: Specialty crop growers struggling, even before trade war
As farm groups push for additional financial aid, a California congressman says addressing skyrocketing input costs and ag labor reform is crucial to the long-term success of specialty crop growers. “Any amount of money that is given from the federal government is not going to be enough,” says Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., who represents Stockton and part of California’s Central Valley.
Hear more from Harder as well as National Corn Growers Association President Jed Bower on the future of year-round E15 and the International Fresh Produce Association’s Mollie Van Lieu on how the dietary guidelines could drive produce demand in this week’s Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.
Final Word
“We can continue at this stage our discussion internally on the EU-U.S. trade deal, which had been paused pending the impending tariff threat…. I will be taking it forward together with my colleagues.” – European Parliament President Roberta Metsola during a press conference Thursday. The Parliament’s ratification of the deal had been on pause over Trump’s Greenland tariff threats, which he walked back on Wednesday.
Kim Chipman, Steve Davies, Lydia Johnson, Noah Wicks, and Oliver Ward contributed to today’s Daybreak.
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