Lawmakers return for the remainder of their lame duck session this week, facing a to-do list that includes passing a farm bill extension and averting a government shutdown, while Republicans try to lay some policy groundwork for 2025.
Congressional leaders haven’t officially said what they’ll do about expired farm bill programs, but discussions began before the Thanksgiving holiday on developing an “extension-plus” that could include some temporary assistance for farmers and other provisions.
USDA will release an updated farm income forecast Tuesday that could provide some fresh ammunition for supporters of an aid package.
The 2018 farm bill needs an extension into 2025 to avoid disrupting commodity programs and leaving some programs without funding.
Also in the works is a package of aid for farmers who lost crops or livestock to hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. A senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told Agri-Pulse Newsmakers the disaster aid package would be in the range of $24 billion.
Congress also faces a Dec. 20 deadline to keep the government funded. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been pushing for another continuing resolution to fund the government into the first part of next year, when Republicans will be in control of both chambers plus the White House. A CR has been funding the government at fiscal 2024 levels since FY25 began Oct. 1.
Trying to push FY25 funding decisions into 2025 isn’t all Johnson is doing to set up next year’s congressional agenda. On Wednesday, he’s hosting billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill to discuss their Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, essentially an advisory committee that aims to slash government funding.
In a post on X, Johnson said he looked forward to the meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy to “discuss major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings—& revive the principle of limited government!”
Although Musk and Ramaswamy claim Donald Trump has broad legal authority to downsize government without congressional action, if the Trump administration tries to do that it’s almost certainly going to be challenged in the courts, experts say.
A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing this week on obesity and the Food and Drug Administration could provide a preview of Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to lead if he can get Senate confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced the hearing in October before the outcome of the presidential election was known. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf announcing the hearing, Sanders took the agency for task for the length of time it has taken to issue regulations for front-of-package nutrition labeling. Sanders also used the letter to blast the food industry in terms similar to what RFK Jr. and MAHA allies such as Callie Means used during the campaign.
“The American people have a right to know what is in the food and beverages they are consuming and how these products can impact their health and well-being as well as that of their children,” Sanders wrote.
"For far too long, the food and beverage industry has been allowed to use deceptive and misleading tactics to entice children to eat foods and consume beverages loaded up with added sugar, salt, and saturated fats that are purposely designed to be overeaten."
Here is a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EST):
Monday, Dec. 2
Tuesday, Dec. 3
11 a.m. – USDA releases Farm Income Forecast.
12:45 - Agri-Pulse Founder & Publisher Sara Wyant speaks to the North Dakota Farm Credit Council Ag Leaders Forum.
Wednesday, Dec. 4
10 a.m. – American Enterprise Institute forum, “Farming and the Federal Budget: Will Farmers Face a New Age of Austerity?”
Thursday, Dec. 5
8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report.
11 a.m. – Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, “What Is the FDA Doing to Reduce the Diabetes and Obesity Epidemics in America and Take on the Greed of the Food and Beverage Industry?” 562 Dirksen.
Friday, Nov. 11
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
