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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Democrats reached a deal with the White House and congressional Republicans to replenish the Agriculture Department’s Commodity Credit Corp. account in exchange for banning CCC payments to oil companies and extending some pandemic-related nutrition assistance.
Democratic congressional leaders refused to allow replenishment of a key Agriculture Department account, charging that the White House is employing it as a “political slush fund.” Senate Republicans quickly criticized the measure.
Lawmakers look to move a compromise stopgap funding bill this week to keep the government operating until December, even as much of the nation's attention is focused on the Supreme Court opening created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Trump administration is handing out so much money to farmers that the United States will blow through its spending limit under World Trade Organization rules for 2019 and likely 2020, potentially exposing U.S. farm programs to legal challenges, according to a new analysis.
Senate Republicans are preparing to roll out a $1 trillion coronavirus relief package that will likely include $20 billion in additional funding for USDA to help compensate farmers for pandemic-related losses.
It’s not everything that farm groups wanted, but the broad array of agricultural provisions in a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill that the House is expected to vote on Friday are likely to find many supporters in the Senate.
House Democrats try to agree on the shape of the next major coronavirus relief bill, while farm groups lobby for a major new infusion of cash to offset the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
The leader of the House Agriculture Committee says he wants to see more money go into USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp., but he’s willing to oppose a funding increase without conditions giving Congress more authority over how the money is spent.
Farm groups are lobbying Congress and the Trump administration for a number of relief measures to help producers cope with the slide in many commodity markets that has deepened as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.
The Agriculture Department’s inspector general is undertaking an extended investigation of the administration’s trade assistance programs, starting with whether USDA had the proper legal authority to make direct payments to farmers.
