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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, December 22, 2024
The House is back in session this week along with the Senate, and lawmakers face a lengthy to-do list, which includes passing a stimulus bill as well as an omnibus appropriations measure to fund the government through the rest of fiscal 2021.
The election as well as lawmaker retirements have shaken up leadership roles on key House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction over agriculture and food, which could force Capitol Hill legislators to forge new friendships.
There are several big questions for U.S. agriculture as a result of the election, but none bigger than who will replace Collin Peterson as chairman of the House Ag Committee.
The battle over control of the Senate could pivot on several Republican farm-state seats. Democrats’ hopes to expand their House majority could be shaped by whether they can hold onto rural districts they carried in 2018 and pick off some GOP incumbents.
For the second straight year, Democrats threatened but ultimately backed down from blocking Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue from getting a fresh pot of money to make payments to farmers.
Talks on a coronavirus relief package will heat up this week as Senate Republicans prepare to bring out their proposal this week with an eye toward getting the massive legislation passed ahead of the August recess.
USDA promised to start getting those Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments out the door to farmers within a week of signup starting, and that’s what is happening.
House Democrats are focused this week on finishing their proposal for the next coronavirus relief bill, and farm groups and their allies in Congress are working to get priorities addressed in whatever Phase 4 package reaches the president’s desk.
Canada’s House of Commons and Senate went into overdrive Friday and rushed through votes to approve implementing legislation for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement before going on recess amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.
