House Agriculture Committee
House Ag panel will start with climate change
After refusing to overturn election, five House ag panelists oppose impeachment
Although they defied President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, five Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee voted on Wednesday against impeaching Trump for inciting the deadly mob attack on the Capitol last week. They said that impeachment was divisive and hasty, while the new Agriculture chairman, Georgia Democrat David Scott, said speedy action was needed.
Pro-Trump mob ‘was an attack on American democracy’
The invasion of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob was an assault on U.S. democracy, said farm state lawmakers on Wednesday. Rioters interrupted the certification of Joe Biden's election as president over President Trump, who told protesters that he would never concede defeat. Biden and former president George W. Bush called the invasion an insurrection.
First Black chairman of House Ag will fight climate change, rural-urban split
Rep. David Scott of Georgia soundly defeated a California rival in a vote among majority-party Democrats on Thursday to become the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Scott, who represents a suburban Atlanta district with 313 farms, pledged to tackle an array of issues, most prominently climate change and the rural-urban split, in the new session of Congress opening on Jan. 3.
Democrats claim victory in two House Ag races
Two Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee, Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado, claimed re-election as vote counting continued in New York State. And in two other undecided races, Democrats halved their opponents' leads, thanks to absentee ballots.
Costa makes it a two-man race for ag gavel
Eight-term Rep. Jim Costa, who represents an agricultural district around Fresno in California's Central Valley, announced his candidacy for chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, saying the committee "should reflect the changing landscape of agriculture in the United States." As the majority party, House Democrats will select the chairman in the weeks ahead.
Scott, seeking to chair House Ag, calls for racial justice and economic equality
Nine-term Georgia Rep. David Scott asked House Democrats to name him Agriculture Committee chairman with a call on Thursday for racial justice and economic equality in agriculture, rural economic development, and a safety net for hungry Americans. He would be the first Black and the first Georgian to chair the committee.
New chairs on the way for Senate and House Agriculture panels
Southerners could lead both of the Agriculture committees in Congress as a result of Tuesday's general election, which trimmed the majorities Republicans hold in the Senate and Democrats hold in the House. Rep. David Scott of Georgia was first in seniority to succeed chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota on the House Agriculture Committee, and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas was in line to chair the Senate panel.
Peterson, ag committee chair, defeated after three decades in House
Two and possibly three of the "four corners" of farm policy, the Capitol Hill nickname for the chairmen and the minority leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees, will be occupied by new faces when Congress convenes in January. Two of the seats could go to Arkansans: Sen. John Boozman appears certain to succeed Pat Roberts as the top Republican on the Senate committee and Rep. Rick Crawford is vying to be the ranking Republican on House Agriculture.
Peterson-Fischbach race stands out in House contests
If there were a "toss-up caucus" of U.S. representatives in the tightest races, House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson could be its premiere member. The Blue Dog Democrat from western Minnesota is running for re-election against a well-financed Republican, former Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach, in a district that that voted for President Trump in a landslide in 2016.
Lawmakers seek USDA aid for sheep ranchers
The USDA needs to step in to help sheep ranchers in the West following the bankruptcy of the second-largest U.S. sheep processor, said leaders of the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday.
Two new Republicans on House Agriculture
Republican Reps. Troy Balderson of Ohio and Chris Jacobs of New York are newly appointed members of the House Agriculture Committee, announced Rep. Michael Conaway, the GOP leader on the panel, on Thursday.
Obstacles for Fischbach in her campaign to challenge Ag chair Peterson
With an early endorsement from President Trump, former Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach is the GOP favorite to run against House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson in western Minnesota. But other candidates were loath to clear the way for her at a nominating convention in May and in the upcoming Aug. 11 primary election.
House Ag chair Peterson, a GOP target, runs for re-election
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, a conservative Democrat in a Republican-leaning district, announced he would seek re-election in November, saying he was worried rural America is being left behind. President Trump has endorsed a Republican challenger against Peterson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, in a contest that is regarded as a toss-up.
Chance of trade war payments ‘less than 10 percent’
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the odds of a multibillion-dollar round of trade war payments to farmers this year are “less than 10 percent,” although a senior lawmaker said the payments may be "absolutely vital" for survival in the Farm Belt. China will turn to the U.S. market for soybeans “late this spring, this summer,” Perdue predicted during a House Agriculture hearing on Wednesday.
Election outlook improves for four House ag panelists
Sabato's Crystal Ball says the path to re-election is a bit easier for four members of the House Agriculture Committee — Democrats Antonio Delgado of New York State, Josh Harder of California and Kim Schrier of Washington State, and Republican Mike Bost of Illinois — and a bit rockier for Republican Jim Hagedorn of California. The political handicapping newsletter said Democrats are favored to retain control of the House in the Nov. 3 general elections but a highly nationalized election could give Republicans a chance.
Conservation reserve program is ‘competitive’ this year, despite lower rental rates
Despite lower rental rates, enrollment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve Program is "competitive" this year, a USDA official said at a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. The 2018 farm bill raised the cap on the number of acres to be enrolled in the CRP from 24 million to 27 million, and Congress reduced the rates paid to farmers to fund the expansion.
With change in party, Van Drew vanishes from House ag panel
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who changed parties to become a Republican after voting against the impeachment of President Trump, is the second lawmaker to lose his seat on the House Agriculture Committee in a year. The other was anti-immigrant Republican Steve King of Iowa.
House Democrats elect Craig as party leader on Agriculture Committee
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig said she will employ a principled bipartisanship in her new post as senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, "working to find compromise where we can, but fighting for our values where we must." Farm groups said her first goal should be enactment of a new farm bill.