House and Senate Republicans are sending more signals they doubt their ability to pass a new, bipartisan farm bill this year.
Their latest suggestion of looming defeat: Lawmakers are currently weighing whether to put Biden-era conservation programs into their party-line megabill that might have otherwise been included in their separate reauthorization of federal farm programs, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
One of the people said it’s “likely” that Republicans will pull unspent conservation program dollars from the Democrats’ 2022 climate law into their party-line megabill to continue funding those popular programs. But Republicans will also likely push to remove climate-related guardrails on those climate law initiatives as they have during previous negotiations.
GOP lawmakers previously rejected a similar push from Democrats to add conservation money to the farm bill; now, they are open to adding certain programs to the other pending piece of legislation as U.S. producers grapple with economic headwinds and an outdated farm safety net.
Republicans are also considering including two key farm bill provisions — increased reference prices and updated crop insurance for farmers — into the legislation that would enact broad swaths of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda, one of those people said.
The House Agriculture Committee is due next week to mark up its component of the major package of tax cuts and extensions, border security investments, energy policy and more. The biggest fight is set to be over the level of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is worrying to many Republicans who don’t want their constituents to lose food aid benefits.
But conservatives outside the committee who typically vote against major agricultural subsidies could eventually shoot down the inclusion of any farm provisions, making this gambit a risky move for when the full party-line package comes to the House floor and GOP leaders can only afford to lose a handful of votes.
