WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2016 - House Democrats select their
leadership today as they struggle to figure out how to deal with a White House
and Congress that will both be controlled by Republicans next year. Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi of California is fighting off a challenge from Ohio Rep.
Tim Ryan.
Ryan has been considered a long shot, but a victory for
him would have implications for agriculture. Ryan
said in an interview last year that he wants to use subsidies to
increase production of local produce and lean meats. He’s the author of a book
called The
Real Food Revolution: Healthy Eating, Green Groceries, and the Return of the
American Family Farm.
Levin quitting Ways and Means post. A big change is
coming at the top of the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax and
trade policy. Sandy Levin of Michigan announced yesterday that he’s stepping
down as the committee’s ranking Democrat to make way for younger leadership.
Levin was a strong critic of Obama’s free-trade
policy.
Biofuel tax extenders headed for expiration. It appears that
a series of tax benefits for biofuels will be allowed to expire at the end of
the year. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says there are no
plans to address the expiring measures during the lame duck session.
The expiring measures include the $1-a-gallon tax credit for
biodiesel and additional tax incentives for cellulosic ethanol production and
alternative fuel infrastructure.
For more about the tax extenders and other priorities for
the lame duck, read this week’s Agri-Pulse newsletter.
Farm Foundation hosts farm bill debate. The Farm Foundation
is sponsoring a forum at
the National Press Club on what Congress should do in the next farm bill. The
event will feature widely divergent views on the bill represented by Chuck
Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; Scott
Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working
Group, and Daren Bakst, agricultural research policy fellow for the Heritage
Foundation.
Trump expands USTR team, no talk of trade merger. Donald
Trump’s proposal to merge trade policy in the Commerce Department doesn’t
appear to be a priority. Spokesman Jason Miller told reporters yesterday that
there has been no discussion during the transition about moving the U.S. Trade
Representative’s office to Commerce.
But Trump is making clear with his selection of transition
advisers that he intends to carry out his campaign pledges to toughen trade
enforcement, especially when it comes to China. Trump has added two members to
his transition team at the USTR.
One is Stephen Vaughn, a
trade lawyer with King and Spalding who focuses on antidumping and
countervailing duty cases. (He was involved in a 2009 case against China
involving steel tubing.) He also has experience with dispute settlement panels
under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Also on the USTR team is Nova Daly, a veteran of the last
Bush administration who has expertise in China and other issues,
including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Trump picks Chao, considers immigration hardliner for
Labor. Trump named two additional Cabinet posts yesterday - Elaine
Chao for Transportation and House Budget Chairman Tom Price for Health and
Human Services.
Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,
served as secretary of labor under George W. Bush. Her nomination suggests
Trump is serious about passing a major infrastructure bill next year.
Trump said in a statement that Chao has an “extensive record
of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to
rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta, who has been a critic
of illegal immigration going back to his term as a small-town mayor, met with
Trump yesterday about running the Department of Labor. Barletta helped lead an
effort last year to defund President Obama’s executive actions on
immigration.
As mayor Hazelton, Pa., Barletta vowed to make his town
difficult for illegal immigrants to live and work in. He won passage of a
first-in-the-nation ordinance to prevent them from owning or renting
homes there. A federal judge later struck down the law.
The Labor Department operates guest worker programs as well
as regulating worker safety.
GOP forecast: Border security, pass the REINS Act. Congressional
Republicans are already focusing on what they want to do first in the next
Congress. At the top of the agenda are a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and
border security legislation.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy indicated yesterday that the
House also plans to vote again on legislation that would make it easier for
Congress to block new regulations. The bill, called the REINS Act, or the
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, would require an
up-or-down vote by both the House and Senate before any new rule can take
effect that would have an annual economic impact of $100 million or more.
“We’ll have common ground and common sense,” McCarthy said of
the bill. The bill would almost certainly draw a Democratic filibuster in
the Senate. But McCarthy said
Trump understands the need to restrict executive actions and
ensure that there are “three co-equal branches.”
He said it. “Let me be quite clear, I will not be
recusing myself” - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, joking about his
wife’s nomination for transportation secretary.
Philip Brasher contributed to this report.
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