A full U.S. Congress is back in session this week after senators passed a legislative package to fund most of the government through Sept. 30, though not in time to avoid what’s expected to be a brief partial government shutdown.
A two-week stopgap measure to fund the Homeland Security Department was added to a larger spending measure, giving Democrats more time to potentially negotiate with President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers over their demands to rein in DHS after the recent shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
The House, which was in recess last week, could pass the legislative funding package in the next few days. Meanwhile, because a stopgap spending bill expired Friday, the government is in a limited shutdown on the heels of a broader and record-long, six-week funding lapse last fall.
Much of the government, including USDA, the Food and Drug Administration, Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, is unaffected this time because legislation funding those agencies for fiscal 2026 has already been signed into law.
The departments that are affected by the partial shutdown include Transportation, Labor, and Health and Human Services (except for FDA).
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporers Friday that Democrats will have to determine if there’s a “real path toward making the dramatic changes at the Department of Homeland Security necessary to stop the use of taxpayer dollars from brutalizing everyday Americans and killing American citizens?”
The specter of Congress preoccupied with another tense shutdown threat in just two weeks is ratcheting up concerns about other key issues falling by the wayside.
Ethanol policy at forefront in February
Such matters include passing legislation to allow year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol, known as E15, and to add new limits on the ability of small oil refineries to seek exemption from biofuel-mixing rules under the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Farm and fuel groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, are calling on a newly formed E15 study group in the House to stick to a Feb. 15 deadline for coming up with legislative proposals after in-fighting within the oil industry contributed to the derailment of an ethanol bill in late January.
“Lack of action could disrupt the fuel supply chain,” groups including the National Corn Growers Association and National Association of State Departments of Agriculture wrote to lawmakers on Friday. “In addition, the need to identify and encourage new domestic markets for American agriculture is critical as risk of bankruptcy for American farmers is the highest it’s been in nearly 50 years.”
A protracted fight in Congress over DHS funding could slow down E-15 efforts. It also could delay plans to update key ag provisions not dealt with last year after lawmakers again failed to pass a new five-year farm bill, and to pass additional economic relief for struggling U.S. agriculture producers.
Farm income due, USDA IG faces lawmakers
The Department of Agriculture is set to release its 2026 farm income forecast on Thursday.
Government subsidies and strong cattle prices have been propping up U.S. farm earnings. USDA’s most recent forecast estimated net cash farm income at $180.7 billion in 2025, a 28.5% increase from 2024. Net farm income, a broader measure of farm earnings, was forecast 40.7% higher in 2025 at $179.8 billion.
The issue of ag profits will be top of mind next week at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit, where former USDA chief economist Seth Meyer is scheduled to share his insights on the economic outlook for agriculture and biofuels.
On Tuesday, USDA Inspector General John Walk and others from his office will testify before a House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee oversight hearing.
Indonesia gets ag trade focus
USDA is leading a trade mission to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta this week with a group of agribusinesses, trade groups and representatives from state departments of agriculture.
U.S. agriculture exports to the country have been in decline since 2022, when they peaked at around $3.25 billion. They stood at $2.9 billion in 2024, with soybeans accounting for $1.2 billion, according to USDA data.
The Indonesian and U.S. governments agreed to an outline of a trade pact in July, which, if fully implemented, would address multiple longstanding agricultural trade barriers and eliminate tariffs on nearly all U.S. exports.
“The Indonesian market holds incredible potential for U.S. agriculture, particularly for soy, dairy, and feed ingredients,” USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg told Agri-Pulse via on Friday. He said the visit will help “eliminate the agricultural trade deficit” with the country and “knock down trade barriers like unpredictable regulatory changes, import quotas which don’t match market demand, and halal certification.”
Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, told Agri-Pulse en route to Indonesia on Friday that he’s particularly focused on boosting export opportunities for soybean meal.
“We already have a very large share of the soybean imports,” he said. But limited meal supplies have meant the U.S. has not been able to secure a large foothold in the country’s soybean meal market.
“As we produce more soybean meal here in the U.S., we think Indonesia can be a really good target market for us,” he added.
EU lawmakers deliberate future of U.S. deal
Trade lawmakers in the European Parliament are set to meet again on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed with ratifying a trade pact with the United States.
Parliament still has to approve the deal, but the process was put on hold as U.S.-European Union frictions ramped up over Greenland. EU policymakers say that the framework agreement can go ahead after Trump walked back his tariff threats, but some lawmakers want to wait for more details on the Greenland deal before voting on the U.S. deal.
A similar meeting last week ended without a decision on when to press ahead with a vote.
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andy Puzder appeared in front of the EU parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Wednesday, where multiple lawmakers pressed him for reassurances that once the deal is implemented, the U.S. president won’t break its commitments by further hiking tariffs.
Putzer responded by arguing that it is Europe, not the U.S., that is at greater risk of not living up to the deal.
“We are already abiding by our commitments on trade. We have done everything we said we would do in the framework trade agreement, and we did it within a month of signing the document,” Puzder said. “What has Europe done since then? Really nothing.”
Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EST):
Monday, Feb. 2
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture winter policy conference, through Wednesday, Washington.
2 p.m. — USDA issues issues monthly update of U.S. agricultural trade data
Tuesday, Feb. 3
CattleCon beef industry convention, through Thursday, Nashville, Tennessee.
9 a.m. – The Washington International Trade Association will host the first of a series of webinars on WTO reform.
10:15 a.m. – House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing, “Fix Our Forests: The Need for Urgent Action One Year After the L.A. Wildfires,” 1324 Longworth.
10:30 a.m. – House Appropriations Committee hearing with USDA Inspector General John Walk, 2362-A Rayburn.
Wednesday, Feb. 4
10 a.m. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on cybersecurity challenges facing U.S. water infrastructure. North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association board member Matt Oderman to testify. 562 Dirksen.
3 p.m. – USDA releases Broiler Hatchery report.
Thursday, Feb. 5
Deadline for USDA’s 2025 organic survey
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association summit, Altoona, Iowa.
Pasa annual sustainable agriculture conference, through Friday, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report
11 a.m. – USDA releases Farm Income Forecast
Friday, Feb. 6
9:30 a.m. – The Washington International Trade Association forum, “2026 Congressional Trade Agenda.”
3 p.m. – USDA and Statistics Canada jointly release North American Potatoes report
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
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