Articles by Philip Brasher

The House averts a government shutdown by narrowly passing a sweeping government-wide spending bill after overcoming a revolt by Democrats and conservative Republicans.

A House-passed bill extending a series of expired tax breaks is likely to be the last thing the Senate does before adjourning for the year.

The massive $1 trillion fiscal 2015 spending bill that congressional leaders have agreed on sets the stage for fights next year over the Clean Water Act, school nutrition, the beef checkoff and country-of-origin labeling.

The House has approved a bill that would provide the first congressional authorization for the Obama administration’s $1-billion-a-year Feed the Future initiative.

The Clean Water Act provisions in the massive fiscal 2015 spending agreement are likely to do little to slow an effort by farm groups to kill a proposed rule defining the law’s jurisdiction.

An EPA official refused Wednesday to tell lawmakers when the agency would finally release this year’s biofuel usage targets.

Incoming House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway is setting up a separate subcommittee to oversee federal nutrition programs, confirming the food stamps and other feeding programs will be a major focus in the next Congress.

Lawmakers are hurrying to wrap up work on spending legislation before the temporary measure that is currently funding the government expires on Thursday.

The House is set to pass a bill Tuesday that would provide legal authority for the first time to President Obama's Feed the Future initiative, a $1-billion-a-year effort to increase food production and combat hunger in 19 target countries.

The shipping industry is losing a bid to increase the amount of U.S. food aid that must be transported by American carriers, a move that would likely boost the cost of moving the commodities.