Senate Republicans are moving ahead with their skinny budget plan, even though President Donald Trump has come out forcefully for the massive, alternative plan favored by the House GOP.
“And all I can say is, I think our colleagues are on board with the idea of proceeding and moving forward in a way that hopefully gets us an outcome here in the Senate, and then we'll see what the house is able to achieve next week,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.
Why it matters: Senate Republicans want to delay work on tax cuts until later this year and focus now on increasing border and defense spending. House GOP leaders say they’ve got to address all of Trump’s priorities at once, including tax cuts, because they may not get another shot.
But, but, but: The House GOP leadership has its own headaches, getting support for a single bill. Eight GOP members led by Texas Rep. Tony Gonzalez wrote House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday, raising concerns about potential cuts to SNAP, Medicaid and Pell grants.
EU push for import ‘mirror clauses’ shows need for more ag trade cooperation, US industry warns
In a new roadmap, the European Union outlines its aspirations to require imported products to more closely align with domestic pesticide and animal welfare rules. A soy industry representative tells Agri-Pulse that these ambitions highlight the need for deeper cooperation in international venues.
“We can end up in these bilateral tiffs,” said Rosalind Leeck, executive director for market access and strategy at the U.S. Soybean Export Council. “But I think this is one of the reasons that we need to continue to point to things like Codex Alimentarius.”
The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of voluntary, internationally recognized food standards published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.
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“Different jurisdictions have their own rights in order to establish what makes sense for their environments, for their consumers,” Leeck said. But she added that cooperating multilaterally in venues like the FAO and Codex can foster “international standards for food safety that we all can benefit from.”
Animal feed ingredient reviewers fired
Nearly a third of the FDA personnel reviewing the safety and efficacy of animal feed ingredients have been let go, Agri-Pulse has learned.
Both the Pet Food Institute and Association of American Feed Control Officials decried the cuts at the Center for Veterinary Medicine, with PFI calling them “very frustrating.”
In addition, a coalition of consumer, industry and public health groups issued a statement Wednesday questioning the wisdom of the layoffs at FDA, including 89 in the Human Foods Program.
“An under-resourced food safety agency could jeopardize” efforts by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “to improve nutrition and ingredient safety for children and adults,” the groups say in a statement.
Biofuel industry watches DOE
The biofuel space also is closely monitoring the staffing cuts at other federal agencies. Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, says there’s concern about reductions in the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office that could delay the already lengthy process of getting projects or loan projects approved.
“It takes forever to get those things through the process of these bureaucracies and now there’s fewer people to do that work,” Cooper said. “There are going to be more delays with regard to things that our industry needs, decisions that we need from these agencies.”
RFA was unaware of departures from EPA that might delay or impact the agency updating renewable volume obligations for 2026-2028. In the coming weeks, Cooper said they would be watching to see how cuts may impact their regulatory priorities.
March CR could include E15, biofuel provisions
Lawmakers and ethanol advocates are pushing to include year-round E15 in whatever funding bill Congress considers next month. The continuing resolution that has funded the government since December ends March 14. The industry also wants Congress to extend some expired biofuel tax incentives.
RFA has its eye set on the possible March CR as its first shot at attaching and passing a year-round E15 bill this year.
“There is broad bipartisan support for taking care of this issue and resolving that barrier and getting it out of the way once and for all, in both chambers of Congress,” Cooper said.
Speaking at the National Ethanol Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, told the audience he’s already spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about including year-round E15 in the CR. Feenstra told reporters that the CR or a full slate of appropriation bills is the vehicle ethanol lawmakers are focused on both in the House and Senate.
Meanwhile: On Tuesday, Cooper also indicated that RFA will push for Congress to reinstate the expired suite of biofuel credits to make up for gaps in certainty with the 45Z tax credit for clean fuel producers.
He later told reporters that the CR could also be a vehicle for this extension.
“That would seem like a fairly simple fix to include in something like the continuing resolution,” Cooper said. “The whole point is to do it now, do it quickly so that there is tax policy in place to support expansion and growth in the renewable fuels industry while Congress and the administration are figuring 45Z out.”
Final word
“He said the president prefers one big, beautiful bill. So do I, but you always need a plan B around here.” — Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., after Vice President JD Vance met with Senate Republicans.
