Banking on Republican gains in the midterm elections, President Trump said Congress could wait until next year to pass the farm bill because “we don’t have enough votes” now for stricter work requirements for millions of SNAP recipients. Trump, who signed an executive order in April calling for new and stronger work requirements for social programs, has sided with House Republicans on the major dispute of the 2018 farm bill, now nearly a month overdue.
“And don’t worry about the farm bill,” Trump told 7,000 people at the FFA national convention in Indianapolis on Saturday. “The farm bill we can sign. I could have signed it three months ago. But we’re trying to make a good bill. Is it okay if I take a little longer?” The audience, mostly teenagers, applauded.
House and Senate negotiators have said they aim to enact the farm bill in the post-election congressional session opening on Nov. 13. There are myriad disagreements to resolve, on farm subsidies and land stewardship, as well as the House GOP proposal for an estimated 7 million “work capable” adults ages 18-60 to work at least 20 hours a week or spend equal time in job training or workfare to qualify for food stamps.
During an interview at the FFA convention, Trump said he was holding out for more Republicans to be elected to the Senate. “We may have to do that for another year, if you want to know the truth,” he told Agri-Pulse in response to a question if he would veto a bill without stronger work requirements.
“We don’t have enough votes. In the Senate, we need 10 votes essentially. We need 10 votes. The Democrats won’t give us the votes that we need,” Trump said. “We have a farm bill that I can do. I’m holding out … I’d love to get work requirements if we could … If we don’t get more people in, I don’t know, I can’t tell you that we’re going to do work requirements.”
Most SNAP recipients are elderly, children or disabled and are exempt from a general requirement to register for work and accept an appropriate job if offered. Since 1996, so-called able-bodied adults without dependents aged 18-49 have been limited to three months of food stamps in a three-year period. The time limit can be waived in areas of high unemployment or insufficient jobs. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says states abuse the waivers.
Farm-bill negotiators are over a barrel on SNAP work requirements because they cannot satisfy both the House and Senate, according to analysts. The Senate, divided 51-49 between Republicans and Democrats, has voted 2-to-1 against the SNAP framework that Republicans steered through the House by a two-vote margin on their second try despite a 42-seat majority. House Democrats voted in a block against the bill. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway says the stricter rule would push people into the workforce. Foes say a paperwork maze will deny benefits to otherwise eligible people.
The midterms are likely to alter the dynamics of farm-bill negotiations, by emboldening the party that gains seats to stand firm and by encouraging the losing side to make the best deal possible before the victors take office in January. Political handicappers rate Democrats as a soft favorite to win control of the House while Republicans are favored to keep control of the Senate or even pick up a couple of seats.
“We need more Republicans. I think we have the chance to do very well,” said Trump in the interview.
Two weeks ago, six anti-hunger, environmental and small-farm groups said the Senate version of the farm bill, which leaves alone SNAP benefits, is the only viable path to a farm bill this year. It was the first time since lawmakers set to work on the 2018 farm bill that a group of activists said that having no farm bill would be better than passing a bad bill.
Although the 2014 farm law expired on Sept. 30, most of its provisions will remain in effect for months, if not indefinitely. SNAP and crop insurance are permanently authorized and crop supports carry through the end of the marketing year. But many stewardship and export promotion programs are in hiatus.