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Lawmakers have their focus on impeachment for now, but Democratic leaders are likely to try to pivot quickly over the next weeks as President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Climate policy as well as immigration and tax reform will be on the agenda for the Senate.

New faces will head key departments as the Biden administration takes office Jan. 20, and their actions on regulations affecting agriculture and rural America may differ sharply from the last four years.

Ag groups are more than happy with the choice of Michael Regan, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, citing his experience working with the farming community in North Carolina and the Biden administration’s extensive outreach to farm groups thus far.

EPA’s spending bill approved last month continued to fund the agency at a level well above the Trump administration’s request, providing $9.24 billion for fiscal 2021, just $180 million above fiscal 2020 but 29% higher than what the administration asked for.

The action may scare some potential investors away from doing new business with Cuban buyers, but it won’t have a direct impact on U.S. agricultural exports to the island nation.

An unlikely pair of senators – Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas – is urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to avoid letting his investigations into imports of blueberries and other produce from Mexico disrupt trade flows that are already strained because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

USDA officials tell Agri-Pulse they are working “amicably” with the Biden transition team, which is paving the way for the incoming administration next week. On the international front, the transition team has been pressing USDA for details on the impacts of the “phase one” trade deal with China.

Prices for many commodities have risen sharply to levels not seen in several years. But the president of the nation’s largest farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, isn’t ruling out seeking additional federal relief in 2021.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall kicked off the organization’s annual gathering by highlighting the organization’s efforts to build relationships with a host of new officials.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on a case central to the Renewable Fuel Standard, the nation’s biofuel mandate, and efforts on the part of refiners to be exempted from federal blending requirements through the use of small refinery exemptions.