Debbie Stabenow
Did USDA pay Alaska to lobby USDA?
The top Democrats overseeing the Forest Service asked the inspector general on Monday to investigate whether USDA grant money to Alaska was used by the timber industry to argue for more logging in the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Service is weighing a state request for a full exemption from a 2001 rule that bars road construction and logging in undeveloped forests.
‘It’s not just SNAP.’ Regional shift in subsidies tying up farm bill, Stabenow says.
Senate farm bill designed to clear 60-vote hurdle
Roughly 16 months ago, at their first hearing for the 2018 farm bill, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts and Sen. Debbie Stabenow agreed to write a bipartisan bill that would be enacted on time, a seemingly simple goal that has eluded Congress repeatedly. With a committee vote set for Wednesday on their 1,006-page bill, the two committee leaders say they are on the verge of a major bipartisan victory.
Roberts: Pass a bipartisan farm bill before summer or risk extension of 2014 law
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have ruled out major changes in the food stamp program, effectively rejecting big cuts to the program before House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway can write them into his committee’s version of the farm bill. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Senators question post-death subsidy payments
Two farm-state senators want the USDA to explain why it allows crop subsidy payments to the estates of deceased farmers for two years or more. “You aren’t very actively engaged if you are buried,” remarked Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, citing a USDA eligibility rule.
Senate ag panel approves controversial nominee as USDA’s top lawyer
The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared for a floor vote the nomination of Stephen Vaden to become USDA's chief lawyer with the senior Democrat on the panel, Debbie Stabenow, expressing reservations over Vaden's past legal work and the personnel practices he has implemented in USDA's legal shop. A member of the administration's "beach head" team, Vaden effectively is the interim leader of the office following his appointment as principal deputy general counsel.
Stabenow says Trump should withdraw Clovis nomination
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, said in a letter to supporters that she opposes the nomination of Sam Clovis to be the USDA's chief scientist, "and I call on President Trump to withdraw it immediately," reported Hill Heat, which covers global warming. Stabenow is the first member of the agriculture committee to formally oppose Clovis, a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign and his chief political liaison at the USDA.
Senior Democrat on Senate Ag has ‘strong concerns’ about Clovis’ qualifications
President Trump's choice for USDA chief scientist, college professor Sam Clovis, appears to lack the credentials for the job, said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, which will vote on the nomination. The Union of Concerned Scientists said Clovis, "a vocal climate denier...is an unacceptable and illegal choice for this important role."
Co-chair of Trump campaign in Michigan will challenge Stabenow
Lena Epstein, co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign in Michigan last fall, says she will run against third-term Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. The 2018 race is rated as "likely Democratic" at present by political tipsheet Sabato's Crystal Ball.
Put USDA on panel that reviews foreign investment, say senators
Two senior farm-state senators filed legislation to make USDA a permanent member of the high-powered federal panel that decides whether foreign investment in the United States would impair national security interests. The legislation sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, would require the panel to consider the impact of a proposed foreign investment on U.S. food and agricultural systems.
Stabenow meets Perdue, wants to learn more about his goals for USDA
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, said she had a productive conversation with President Trump's nominee for agriculture secretary, but did not endorse former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue for the job. So far, Agriculture Committee member Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota is the only Democrat in the Senate to commit to voting for Perdue.
In the spotlight for 2018 Senate races: Agriculture Committee members
One-third of the 23 Democratic senators facing re-election in 2018 sit on the Agriculture Committee, including the panel's top Democrat, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a stalwart defender of food stamps in the final negotiations for the 2014 farm law. President-elect Donald Trump carried four of the states where Ag Committee Democrats will have to decide soon whether to run for another term, a sign of Republican strength.
Three sectors to watch in general-election results
The 2016 general election can be split into sectors of interest for food and agriculture issues: state referendums on agricultural issues; four municipal referendums on soda taxes, and three House races in which the food movement targeted Republican incumbents.
Uncertain future for GMO-disclosure bill when Senate votes
After the showdown vote scheduled for Wednesday in the Senate, the outlook for a GMO-disclosure bill may darken. The Senate bill, which preempts state GMO food-labeling laws along with allowing foodmakers to use a symbol, a digital code or wording on a package to disclose GMO ingredients, has few friends in the House, which has voted against mandatory labeling.
Vermont to delay citizen right to sue over GMO labels
Consumers will not be allowed to sue over companies' failure to label GMO foods until next summer, Vermont legislators decided, with the state's first-in-the-nation label law taking effect July 1.
Stabenow floats GMO labeling plan
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee gave a copy of her GMO food-labeling bill to chairman Pat Roberts and started staff-level briefings of farm and environmental groups, said The Hagstrom Report — steps that suggest a well-advanced effort to resolve the issue.
Warnings of defeat as soon as CFTC bill is unveiled
Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts said his bill to reauthorize the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, scheduled for a vote in committee on Thursday, would remove unnecessary federal regulation of so-called end users, such as utilities, airlines and food processors, while improving safeguards against misuse of customer funds.
Senate ag panel leaders say sugar program is safe
The two leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee, chairman Pat Roberts and top-ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow, said the U.S. sugar program is safe from challenge within the committee.