The House will debate funding for USDA and FDA as lawmakers return from their break for the Republican National Convention, while the House Agriculture Committee this week will hold a hearing on farmers’ current financial situation.
Overshadowing congressional work this week will be the drama surrounding President Joe Biden’s campaign as an increasing number of Democrats call for him to step aside.
The pressure on Biden could intensify with Democratic lawmakers back together in D.C. on the heels of the unified GOP convention in Milwaukee. The Democratic National Convention starts Aug. 19 in Chicago.
The House, meanwhile, is scheduled this week to debate a fresh series of fiscal 2025 spending bills, including the $25.87 billion measure that would fund USDA, FDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the year that starts Oct. 1.
The Interior-Environment bill, which would fund the Interior Department and Environment Protection Agency, also is due to be considered this week along with the Energy-Water bill that funds the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.
Last year’s Agriculture appropriations bill failed on the floor when a significant contingent of rural Republicans abandoned the measure because of its deep cuts in spending. This year still includes a number of policy riders aimed at blocking or slowing regulations implemented by the Biden administration. Those include regulations intended to curb the contracting power of meat processors and a new food safety traceability rule issued by FDA.
The House bill would slash Food for Peace by $619 million to $1 billion for FY25. Republicans justify the cut by citing the $1 billion that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is pulling from the Commodity Credit Corporation this year to supplement Food for Peace at the request of leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
The Senate version of the Agriculture spending bill, which lacks the cut to Food for Peace and partisan policy provisions, would increase funding by 3% over FY24 to $27.05 billion. The Senate bill doesn’t include funding for CFTC, which would get $345 million in FY25 under the House bill.
The stark differences in spending levels between the House and Senate version will have to be negotiated later, likely after the November elections.
The House Agriculture Committee will have a hearing Tuesday on the farm economy and then a subcommittee hearing Thursday on reauthorization of the CFTC.
Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa, said his panel is seeking to put a focus Tuesday on the financial situation faced by farmers amid the slump in prices for many major commodities.
“We'll hear firsthand what farm families are dealing with to help guide us to make sure that the policies we're putting forward makes farming profitable again. That's the goal,” Thompson told Agri-Pulse.
The witnesses will include the president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Dana Allen-Tully, as well as a farmer from North Carolina and representatives from the American Bankers Association and the Agricultural Retailers Association.
Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, July 22
4 p.m. – House Rules Committee meeting to consider the fiscal 2025 Agriculture, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment and Financial Services appropriations bills, H-313 Capitol.
4 p.m. – USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report.
Tuesday, July 23
8:15 a.m. – National Academies of Sciences’ Committee on Heritable Genetic Modification in Food Animals workshop, “Oversight and Food Safety Concerns Posed by Heritable Genetic Modification in Food Animals.”
10 a.m. – House Agriculture Committee hearing on farm financial conditions, 1300 Longworth.
Wednesday, July 24
Thursday, July 25
8:30 a.m. – House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1300 Longworth.
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
9:30 a.m. – Senate Appropriations Committee meeting to consider its fiscal 2025 Commerce-Justice-Science, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-HUD appropriations bills, 106 Dirksen.
Friday, June 26
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
