Congress poised for another farm bill punt after Senate nonstarter

House Republicans rejected a farm bill proposal by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) this week, increasing the likelihood that lawmakers will pass another one-year extension of the massive legislation by the end of the year rather than a new, longer-term measure.

A source in Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) office confirmed this week that the GOP-controlled House plans to seek an extension of the 2018 farm bill, the last major version of the legislation signed into law, rather than pursuing a new bill after months of gridlock. The legislation, which has long underpinned the country's agriculture sector and food aid programs, is typically passed in five-year increments, but lawmakers similarly punted on passing a new bill at the end of last year.

Major bones of contention in interparty talks surrounding the legislation include reference pricing, the subsidies paid to farmers when the prices of commodities fall below a certain threshold. 

GOP lawmakers are specifically seeking higher reference prices for cotton, peanuts and rice with the increase paid for by cuts to the Commodity Credit Corporation, which the Biden administration has used for climate-related discretionary funds. Democrats have opposed this move, as well as a GOP push to freeze the expansion of the foods covered by the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP).

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) signaled that Democrats would not budge on SNAP at a press conference Tuesday, saying, “We certainly will continue to protect nutritional assistance for Americans all across the country. That's in urban America, rural America, exurban America, the heartland of America and small-town America. That will be a priority for us as has always been the case moving forward.”

A second source familiar with the GOP conference meeting confirmed to The Hill that Republican House members rejected the Stabenow text, which the source called “not a serious proposal after Senate Democrats walked away from negotiations,” expressing frustration on the GOP side that Stabenow did not release the text until 20 days remained in the session.

The source also pointed to the fact that the Senate Democratic caucus was not united on it, citing pushback from Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) on reference prices for the southeastern U.S. in Stabenow’s text. 

The source confirmed that House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) dismissed the Senate bill as a form of “legacy protection” for Stabenow, who is retiring from the Senate in January. Thompson’s remark was first reported by Politico.

The GOP-controlled House passed its farm bill text out of committee earlier this year, while Stabenow introduced text for the Senate version this week. Having won a trifecta in the November election, Republicans have considerably less incentive to pass a full new bill by year’s end rather than passing another extension and introducing a broadly Republican-supported bill in the next Congress.

“It was widely reported in the weeks leading up to the House’s markup that Stabenow was calling Democratic members on the phone urging them to vote against our bill, which still secured four Democratic votes,” the source added.

The GOP bill — the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024 — passed the Agriculture Committee 33-21 in May, with the support of Democratic Reps. Yadira Caraveo (Colo.), Don Davis (N.C.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.) and Sanford Bishop (Ga.).

The Hill has reached out to Stabenow’s office for comment.

Democrats could likely only exert meaningful leverage by threatening to outright block any stopgap measure and allow the current extension to expire. Jeffries signaled in his press conference, however, that some form of reauthorization would be a priority for the Democratic caucus during the lame-duck session.

“It's our hope that we can find the common ground necessary in order to reauthorize the farm bill in a manner that meets the needs of everyday Americans, of farmers, particularly family-owned farmers, and that meets the needs of the health and food safety of the American people,” Jeffries said.

Emily Brooks contributed reporting.