Members of the House are returning today for what is expected to be the last series of votes before Speaker Mike Johnson dismisses the chamber for an early August recess. The House isn’t due to return to work until Sept. 9.
Following a letter from 500 commodity groups calling for a new farm bill to be passed by the end of this year, House Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott, D-Ga., is criticizing the speaker's decision to cancel next week’s votes.
The early recess, and “the inability to finish the appropriations process means September will be taken up trying to keep the government open and casts even more doubt on the committee’s bill reaching the House floor,” Scott says in a statement being released today.
“We have precious few legislative days left in the year to pass a farm bill,” Scott says. "The failure of the House Republican Leadership to provide time and resources for a farm bill is a slap in the face to rural America, our farmers, and the families they feed.”
Keep in mind: House Ag Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told Agri-Pulse in May the farm bill “wouldn’t get floor time until September at the earliest.” And there remains a great deal of distance between him and his Senate counterpart, Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, over the bill’s funding framework. The House Ag bill also has a funding gap that still needs to be addressed.
Grassley says Trump will win on the issues, blasts Harris
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said Donald Trump will beat whomever the Democrats run for president because the current administration’s policies have been so bad.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re running against Harris or Biden or Biden-Harris,” Grassley said on his weekly call with reporters Wednesday. “This issue of border security and this issue of the cost of living is going to dominate this campaign, and it should dominate this campaign, and that’s why Trump’s going to be elected.”
He also called Vice President Kamala Harris a “San Francisco liberal” who’s “very, very partisan.” He said he could not recall a single speech she gave discussing agriculture.
He did remember, however, how “she tried to shut down my hearing on Kavanaugh for a couple hours,” when Grassley was chairing the nomination hearing for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Vilsack touts USDA accomplishments at town hall
About 21 million schoolchildren this summer will benefit from the new Summer EBT program, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told USDA employees at a town hall that featured a review of departmental accomplishments and a commitment to continue working through the end of the Biden administration.
“This is not only going to stimulate the economy in those 35 states and areas, but it's also going to make sure that kids get a bit more nutritious food” during the summer, he said.
Speaking in the Jamie L. Whitten building, Vilsack highlighted work in a variety of areas, including combatting salmonella in poultry, finding new markets for agricultural goods, and tackling equity issues in the department and farm programs.
He said he was proud of all the employees of the department, who number 100,000 throughout the U.S. and indicated, a scant three months before the presidential election, that he’s not done
“It's taken every single one of us to get to where we are. Now we've got more time in this administration, and we're going to use that time to continue the good work,” he said.
No hint of plans: After the town hall, which was attended by employees and broadcast virtually, we asked him what his future plans are. He said simply, “I serve at the pleasure of the president. I could be out of work tomorrow.”
FDA reopens comment period on fluorinated polyethylene after publishing error
The Food and Drug Administration is reopening the comment period on a petition from Environmental Working Group, Center for Food Safety and other groups asking the agency to prohibit use of fluorinated polyethylene in food-contact products.
The notice was published in the Federal Register on April 26, but the food additive petition was not made available online for the public to view and comment on. The original comment period was set to end June 25, but the extended period gives commenters until Sept. 23.
Fluorination of polyethylene containers can improve chemical barrier properties, but the petitioners argue the chemical manufactured in line with federal regulations can produce PFAS substances. These can migrate to food, making the chemical’s use unsafe, the groups say.
GAO: College students not accessing SNAP benefits
A report by the Government Accountability Office says 23% of college students, or 3.8 million, experienced food insecurity in 2020, but fewer than two in five of those students were eligible for SNAP benefits.
GAO says food insecurity can undermine the federal investment of $31.4 billion on Pell grants by negatively affecting students' academics. Of the 6 million students who receive federal financial aid to attend college, 59% of those eligible for SNAP benefits did not report receiving them.
Specific eligibility criteria exist for college students, such as working while in school or being a single parent.
Steve Davies, Rebekah Alvey and Jake Zajkowski contributed to this report.
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