The House narrowly passed a $95 billion budget measure, or “reconciliation 3.0,” that seeks funds for the Iran war, new election laws, and as much as $12 billion to help a struggling agricultural sector.
The vote on the concurrent resolution was 216-214. Along with all Democrats, except one who didn’t vote, two Republicans rejected the bill, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio.
Massie told Agri-Pulse the U.S. war with Iran needs to stop, and the aid for farmers is due to the turmoil in the Middle East that’s caused fuel and fertilizer prices to surge.
“The $12 billion was necessitated by the war in Iran, and so this was a vote for basically a slush fund for the war in Iran without calling it that,” Massie said. “The answer is not to give more money to the war in Iran, and then to cover up the externalities to farmers with billions of dollars, the answer is to end the war in Iran.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Vice President JD Vance met last week to craft an outline of the budget measure, which is to form the basis of a bill that moves through Congress using the fast-track procedure of reconciliation. Along with funds for the Pentagon and farmers, the legislation includes President Donald Trump’s top priority, the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to vote in federal elections.
"I urge the Senate to seize this fateful moment to SAVE and Protect America,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said in statement following the vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said his chamber would hold the House-passed bill until Congress can work out a strategy for funding the government beyond September and avoiding a federal shutdown.
Johnson has said the plan is for Senate passage, and then four committees, including agriculture, are to write the reconciliation legislation. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson said he’s eying a markup in his panel shortly after Labor Day.
“Obviously, it's going to be September at this point because we're out of days now,” Thompson said to Agri-Pulse, referring to the House starting a five-week recess on Friday to give lawmakers time to campaign in their districts for the November midterm elections. “We'll be working on it though. We'll be working on it every day.”
On how to invest the $12 billion for ag, Thompson is focused on row and specialty crop growers and sawmills. Thompson previously had proposed a total of about $5 billion for specialty crops, which refer to fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, though now he must rethink the amount given that he wasn’t expecting as much as $12 billion in funding.
Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., a member of the House Ag Committee, called the need for agriculture assistance a “self-created crisis by the Trump administration.”
“Farm bankruptcies are skyrocketing right now,” she told Agri-Pulse when asked about the $12 billion in aid. “When I talk to my growers at home, they don't farm for a handout, they farm for things that they want to sell on the open market. Trump is shutting off that open market, which then necessitates taxpayers having to bail out this horrible agricultural policy, so yes, I think it is something that farmers will need.”
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