We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Terms and Cookie Policy
Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Saturday, September 25, 2021
A bipartisan infrastructure deal is alive and well after the Senate voted 67-32 Wednesday evening to begin debate on the measure. An agreement was reached earlier in the day on the package’s final details.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to be director of the Bureau of Land Management after a sharply partisan debate over her truthfulness about a 1989 tree-spiking incident on an Idaho national forest.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is making it increasingly clear that he’s going to make it a priority to challenge the market power of big food processors and ag input suppliers. How far he ultimately goes remains to be seen. But he’s getting plenty of encouragement from both sides of Capitol Hill.
Farm groups are bracing for a possible effort in Congress to impose new taxes on inherited land and other assets as a way of addressing wealth inequality while raising revenue Democrats will need to fund new infrastructure or social spending.
With Joe Biden consistently leading President Donald Trump in the polls, speculation is growing in Washington about who could get key Cabinet and staff positions, including jobs that could have a far-reaching impact on U.S. agriculture and trade policy.
Bernie Sanders, whose ideas for transforming the economy extended to his views on farm and rural policy, ends his presidential campaign but claims victory for his ideology while pledging to support Vice President Joe Biden.
There’s interest on Capitol Hill and in the White House in an infrastructure package as part of the coronavirus recovery effort, but that interest will have to overcome the skepticism of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who insists he’s optimistic about a farm economy rebound this year, faces a pair of congressional hearings this week where he is certain to face further grilling about trade prospects and future of the Market Facilitation Program.
Democratic presidential candidates are promising big fixes to the nation’s roads, bridges, and waterways through massive trillion-dollar infrastructure plans but are balking at the idea of raising the federal gas tax.
