The House Rules Committee signaled Thursday it could meet the week of April 27 to set floor consideration for the farm bill, aligning with Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s push to bring the legislation to the House floor this month.
Members of the House have the opportunity to submit amendments until noon on Wednesday, April 22.
The schedule remains fluid as lawmakers continue negotiations over funding the partially shut down Department of Homeland Security and lean into discussions on a second reconciliation bill. Lawmakers in the chamber will return to their districts for a week-long recess during the first week of May.
The farm bill advanced through the House Agriculture Committee in March on a 34-17 vote with the support of all Republicans and seven Democrats after partisan clashes over food assistance cuts, ethanol policy, overturning California’s Proposition 12 animal welfare standard, and a provision to protect pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits, among others.
“Some of my committee members have been handy doing some whipping, and then there's a few Democrat members of the committee that are doing some whipping on her side of the aisle,” Thompson told Agri-Pulse.
The Pennsylvania Republican did not share how many Democrats have committed to support the legislation on the floor but said he expected at least the seven Democrats who supported the measure in committee.
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“But I think it's a lot higher than that,” he added.
The committee’s top Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, has previously called the legislation a “shell of a farm bill” that she says will have trouble getting Democratic support on the House floor.
The seven Democrats who broke ranks to support the bill in committee include: Jim Costa of California, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Adam Gray of California, Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan, Josh Riley of New York and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico.
While the Republican-led bill is working to garner support from Democrats, some Republicans also have pushed back. States' rights advocates have criticized the Proposition 12 provision, and supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement have denounced the pesticide preemption language.
Thompson acknowledged those provisions are the biggest sticking points in securing support, but said the issues are “more of an issue on the Senate side.”
“Senator Boozman will do what he needs to do to get 60 votes in the Senate,” Thompson added.
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