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The American Petroleum Institute says Congress needs to stick with a House-passed E15 bill as President Donald Trump formally asks lawmakers to clear a new funding package that also includes the pro-ethanol measure. 

President Donald Trump made the biggest pitch for year-round E15 since his first term, calling on Congress to include the pro-ethanol measure in a nearly $88 billion legislative package to fund a raft of items, including the Iran war and $11 billion in financial aid for farmers. Members of Clean Fuels Alliance America gathered on Capitol Hill this week to stress the need to pass legislation to expand biomass-based diesel use in ocean-going vessels. 

Undersecretary Richard Fordyce said USDA isn’t in a hiring freeze, as lawmakers pressed him on staffing reductions at FSA and NRCS during a House Ag Committee hearing.

The Trump administration is asking Congress to package year-round E15, $11.1 billion in additional farmer aid and a hemp law framework in a nearly $90 billion spending package related to funding of the Iran war. 

Only nine states had payment error rates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program below 6% in fiscal 2025, USDA has announced, which would allow them to avoid paying a portion of SNAP benefits starting in October 2027. Another six, as well as the District of Columbia, were above a higher threshold that gives them a two-year delay.

On the first day of the Great American State Fair Thursday, President Donald Trump will host a White House Rose Garden dinner honoring farmers, ranchers, cattlemen and growers from across the country and featuring appearances by top administration officials and lawmakers. 

Partisan fighting over nutrition aid policy is threatening to derail efforts to pass a Senate farm bill. 

Former officials at USDA who dealt with New World screwworm as it advanced closer to the U.S. push back against criticism of the Biden administration's efforts leveled by Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins. 

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued USDA to release records about potential behind-the-scenes interests of President Donald Trump’s executive order to increase production of glyphosate. 

Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., is optimistic on the prospects for E15 and additional farmer aid to pass Congress.