House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries put the farm bill third on his short list of must-pass bills for the post-election session of Congress on Wednesday, behind averting a government shutdown and assuring military preparedness. The lame-duck session is the last chance to enact a new farm bill before lawmakers would have to start over in January, when a new Congress takes office.
“It will be important to see if we can find a path forward and reauthorize the farm bill in order to make sure we can meet the needs of farmers, meet the needs of everyday Americans, and also continue the progress we’ve been able to make in terms of combating the climate crisis,” replied Jeffries when reporters asked about his agenda for the fall. He added the proviso that the “terms of what we consider during the lame-duck session will be decided once the American people have had the opportunity to weigh in about the future of the Congress on Nov. 5.”
Republicans have a 220-212 majority in the House at present. Democrats need to gain five seats to take control. There are 19 toss-up races, according to one political handicapper. Control of the Senate, now run by Democrats, will also be decided in the general election.
Lawmakers quickly came to agreement on terms of the 2018 farm bill after the midterm elections gave Democrats the House majority and ended a Republican drive for large cuts in SNAP.
Former agriculture secretaries Ann Veneman and Dan Glickman, who served, respectively, under George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees offering the help of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) “to build the consensus necessary to usher a bipartisan bill through Congress this year.” The board of directors of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, meeting in Indianapolis, passed a resolution urging “expeditious passage of a comprehensive bipartisan farm bill in 2024.”
The letter and the resolution each said the new farm bill should support agricultural producers, public nutrition programs, and rural communities. Former senators Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, and Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, signed the BPC letter.
Progress on the farm bill has been stalled for months by disagreements over SNAP funding, larger farm subsidy outlays, and climate mitigation. The Republican-controlled House Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill in late May, but it was over budget and has not been called for a floor vote. Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman of Arkansas, the senior Republican on the committee, have released outlines for a farm bill but not legislative text.