The border security issue moves to the forefront this week in Congress, overshadowing the House-passed tax bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has teed up action on a supplemental spending package that will include aid for Israel and Ukraine as well as border security measures worked out by a small, bipartisan group of senators.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been slamming the border security plan for weeks ahead of its release, is countering the Senate move by pushing a bill that would provide aid only for Israel. “We cannot wait any longer. The House is willing to lead. And the reason we have to take care of this Israel situation right now is because the situation has escalated, of course,” Johnson, R-La., said Sunday On NBC’s Meet the Press.
Johnson flatly denied that former President Donald Trump was directing his opposition to the border security measure. "I'm the one calling the shots for the House,” he said.
Tax bill prospects: Republican critics of the tax bill that passed the House overwhelmingly last week are demanding the chance to at least debate amendments to the legislation. It can take weeks to negotiate agreements in the Senate on what amendments that will get votes.
Also this week: On Wednesday, USDA will release its first farm income forecast for 2024. If it shows another drop in farm earnings, the report could increase political pressure on Congress to move a new farm bill.
For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
New NCBA president points to tax policy as top priority
The new leader of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the group’s longstanding fight against the estate tax and its desire for reforms to other parts of the country’s tax code will be at the top of his agenda for the next year.
Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele told NCBA members his efforts to purchase the ranch where he started as a hand after high school were complicated after the previous owner passed away in 2011. NCBA is supportive of the tax package that passed the House last week, which includes policy priorities like Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation.
“I want those exemptions, I want that death tax done away with, and I am going to work tooth and nail to make that thing happen for us,” he said in a speech shortly after assuming the organization’s presidency.
Eisele later told reporters the organization’s push for estate tax repeal would also be critical for future generations of ranchers. “Without that, there’s going to be a problem with ranchers having succession and holding them intact for their heirs,” he said.
FDA looks to roll back policy on animal food additives
The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine plans to withdraw a 26-year-old policy that directs the agency to regulate certain animal foods like it would drugs, according to a recent letter it sent stakeholders.
The agency is looking to roll back a 1998 policy the American Feed Industry Association says subjects certain feeds to “lengthy drug review procedures rather than more suitable ingredient review processes, needlessly prolongs the evaluation period and, in many cases, stops companies from seeking product approval in the United States."
The FDA, in its letter, also said it was “working with Congress in seeking new legislative authority” to regulate animal food additives that “may affect the microbiome of the animal, affect the byproducts of the digestive process, or reduce pathogens in food products made from the animal.”
FDA said it’s aware the animal feed industry “is interested in bringing to market animal food substances that act solely within the gut of the affected animal with scientifically substantiated claims related to animal production, animal well-being, food safety, and environmental benefits, as animal food.”
Fish and Wildlife says no to listing of wolves in western states
The Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected petitions to list the gray wolf as endangered in the Rocky Mountain states and throughout the western U.S.
The service said in a 12-month finding that the Northern Rocky Mountain population – Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the eastern third of Oregon and Washington, and a small portion of north-central Utah – does not qualify as a “listable entity” because wolves there are not “markedly separated” from populations outside that boundary.
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The service also concluded that in the western U.S., “now and into the foreseeable future, wolves are likely to retain a healthy level of abundance.”
Environmental groups said they were “looking carefully at today’s notice and evaluating legal options.”
USDA: Only 11% of Hispanic farmers get subsidies
A new study from USDA’s Economic Research Service details the differences between socially disadvantaged farmers and white producers when it comes to farm programs
According to the report, 34% of white farmers get government payments, versus 11% of Hispanic producers and 21% of other socially disadvantaged farmers. But while white farmers are also more likely to hold loans from the Farm Credit System, there isn’t much difference between white and socially disadvantaged producers when it comes to the amount of money they borrow.
By the way: Farms operated only by women are likely to be smaller than jointly operated farms and men-only operations – the average value of production for a woman-only operation is $28,492, versus $160,468 for joint operations and $209,083 for men-only farms. Women-only farms also are more likely than men-only operations to specialize in field crops rather than grains and livestock other than cattle.
He said it: “How do you talk about something seriously when you’ve got a Wookie costume and then you’ve got a Miss Muffet walking by you? – Former NCBA President Todd Wilkinson remarking about the attendees of another event held adjacent to last week’s Cattle Industry Convention in Orlando.
The MegaCon event featured many attendees in elaborate costumes. It was actually the second time in recent memory such a coincidence took place; NCBA’s meeting last summer overlapped with San Diego Comic-Con.
Philip Brasher, Spencer Chase and Noah Wicks contributed to this report
Questions, comments, tips? Send an email to Associate Editor Steve Davies
