Mike Conaway

Along with the much-criticized Harvest Box of nonperishable food for low-income Americans, President Trump proposed in his budget more stringent limits on food stamps for people who work less than 20 hours a week. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway may go beyond Trump in his proposals to restrict eligibility and to channel millions of food-stamp recipients into workfare and job-training programs.

Dyed-in-the-wool Texas conservative Michael Conaway expects a short tenure as the leader of the House investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and related allegations. Better known as Agriculture Committee chairman, Conaway, a CPA by training and a lower-level member of House Republican leadership, said he will be objective and methodical in running the Intelligence Committee probe.

Everything will be on the table when the House Agriculture Committee reviews the $70 billion-a-year food stamp program as part of writing the 2018 farm bill, said chairman Michael Conaway. "We will propose meaningful reforms to SNAP," said Conaway, using the abbreviation for the program's formal name, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The House Agriculture Committee, a stronghold for conventional agriculture, will act first in Congress to prevent states from requiring labels on food made with genetically modified organisms.

On a party-line rollcall of 246-171, the House voted to send the Senate a bill to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It would create new safeguards for customers' money and ease regulation of so-called end users.The customer safeguards are a reaction to the collapse of two large trading houses and are intended to preserve customers' accounts during financial upheavals.

Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway hopes for a large majority vote in the House today to repeal country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on packages of beef, pork and chicken sold in grocery stores. A strong House vote for repeal would create leverage for the Senate to concur, Conaway says. A coalition of manufacturing, business and agricultural groups says it is "critical that Congress enact corrective legislation before adjourning for August recess."

Any revisions to U.S. food-aid programs must be discussed with the agricultural community, said House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway in a statement. The 2014 farm law allowed greater use of locally purchased food and cash assistance in hunger relief, but kept donation of U.S.-grown food as the major source of aid; many other nations donate cash rather than commodities.

In less than half an hour, the House passed on voice votes bills to reauthorize the Grain Standards Act and the mandatory livestock price reporting program, each with significant modifications to prevent disruption of service. The bills now go to the Senate. The Grain Standards bill would require the USDA to step in immediately if there is an interruption of inspection of grain at export terminals, either by dispatching federal inspectors or inspectors from state agencies empowered to conduct the work.

The sponsors of a House bill to prevent states from requiring special labels on GMO foods are considering a new version that would put the USDA in charge of certifying if foods are made from genetically modified organisms or not. The bill, filed by Mike Pompeo of Kansas and GK Butterfield of North Carolina, would keep labeling voluntary at the federal level.

The Agriculture Department has the experience to oversee a voluntary system for labeling non-GMO foods, leaders of the House Agriculture Committee said after a review of the department's Process Verified Program. Creation of a voluntary labeling system for food made without genetically modified organisms is a key element of a House bill to pre-empt states from requiring special labels on GMO foods.