Articles Tagged with ''U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai''

Congressional Democrats have slashed in half their original $3.5 trillion spending plan, but many of the key climate-related ag provisions escaped unscathed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., insists that Democratic leaders are on track to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill this week while also reaching agreement on President Biden’s Build Back Better bill.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai signaled Monday that the Biden administration is ready to begin pressing Beijing to fulfill its promises under the Phrase One agreement, but she didn’t commit to negotiating a much-desired second phase that would elicit new promises of ag commodity purchases.

Democratic leaders have made it official: A continuing resolution that’s needed to avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1 will include a provision to increase the debt limit.

With Democrats struggling to agree on their $3.5 trillion Build Back Better spending plan, a senior leader of the House Democratic caucus says the final vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill could be delayed.

The fresh produce sector is joining dairy processors and the supermarket industry in welcoming the Biden administration’s decision to boost SNAP benefits by 27%. The increase comes from revisions to the Thrifty Food Plan, a calculation that USDA uses to determine benefits. The increase is due in part to the fact that the revision is supposed to bring benefit levels in line with federal dietary guidelines.

A major but temporary agricultural disaster program could be in for some revisions. The Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus, or WHIP+, provided assistance to producers for losses in 2018 and 2019.