Congress
Senate Republicans’ farm bill fails over SNAP stalemate
Senate Agriculture Committee Democrats rejected a GOP-led farm bill Thursday in a vote that highlights deep partisan divisions over nutrition aid cuts and leaves Congress without a clear path toward reauthorizing the long-overdue bill.
Chair John Boozman recessed the panel indefinitely after the 10-11 vote, meaning that he can call members back to revisit the bill at any point, including in September after the chamber’s August break.
Democrats stood united against Boozman’s package, sticking to their demand for a two-year delay to Republicans’ requirement that states share the cost of providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“I want us to get to a bipartisan agreement. I think people know that that is how I have operated in this place, and that’s what I want to get done,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the panel’s ranking member. “But first and foremost, that includes addressing this ridiculous [SNAP] situation.”
Boozman offered a one-year SNAP delay, language to authorize year-round E15 sales and increased funding for a program that distributes food through food banks in hopes of attracting bipartisan support. GOP senators resisted Democrats’ efforts to push for a longer delay.
Republicans needed at least one Democratic vote to advance the bill due to the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell on Thursday. Boozman accused Democrats of holding SNAP participants “hostage and holding our farmers hostage.”
“I want to be clear: A two-year delay does not have the support of the majority in Congress or of the White House. The offer before you is the best, and it’s the final offer,” Boozman said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) defended Boozman’s offer during the markup.
“The chairman fought as hard as he could,” said Thune, a longtime Agriculture Committee member. “The proposal in front of us … gives everybody another year to do this and saves some states in this room a whole lot of money.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said that “all of us knew before we walked in this room” that the bill would fail due to the SNAP stalemate.
“I want to get the bipartisan stuff done, and we’re not going to get a farm bill. That’s the game here today,” Booker said.
Senators adopted dozens of amendments to the original text, including those that would permanently transfer the Food for Peace program to USDA and make hot rotisserie chicken eligible under SNAP. They rejected several Democratic-led amendments to undo SNAP funding cuts and add other nutrition priorities to the bill along party lines.
Rachel Shin contributed to this report.
The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight committee is demanding the White House answer questions related to President Donald Trump’s decision to ban BLN, MS NOW and Blue Light News from the White House, calling it the president’s “most blatant, assault on press freedom.”
In a letter sent Monday to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) requested that Cheung provide by Oct. 5 a detailed account of when and how he was informed of the ban, how he responded, who was consulted before the decision, the legal justification for it, the facts the White House relied on and whether the outlets had any opportunity to respond.
“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, not freedom from criticism,” wrote Garcia. “The American people need to understand what consideration—if any—the White House gave to this serious and unprecedented decision to protect the President’s ego.”
Garcia also asked for all White House staff documents and communications about the ban and for any other relevant materials to be preserved.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump on Friday announced that he was seeking to block journalists from Blue Light News, MS NOW and BLN from the White House, complaining about “constant ‘reporting’” of what he called “FICTION and LIES.” The Trump administration first denied the media outlets entry into the White House grounds on Saturday morning.
The three news organizations are now jointly suing Trump, Cheung and two other top advisers in a bid to immediately restore access for their reporters, calling the ban a “direct assault on the First Amendment.”
Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Monday that the war with Iran “needs to end” to bring prices down, making him the second Republican to break with the White House on the issue that day.
“The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly,” Rogers said in a video published Monday to social media.
“Michigan families can’t afford to wait,” he added. “Here’s what we can do now: place a temporary embargo on Diesel exports. American energy should provide relief to American families first.”
Earlier Monday, Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican Senate candidate in Iowa, expressed similar frustrations about the war’s impact on Iowans’ pocketbooks. Both Rogers and Hinson called for a suspension of the state and federal gas tax in their statements.
Ahead of the midterms, GOP candidates have expressed concern about the war in the Middle East, saying it has made it difficult for them to run on affordability. The war with Iran, which began in February, has led to marked increases in gas and diesel prices. On Monday, regular gas was just over $4.45 per gallon, according to AAA; diesel prices hit a record of $6.50 per gallon.
Rogers, a former representative, is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for a Senate seat in battleground Michigan.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins warned Monday that President Donald Trump would be defying Congress if he moves forward with empowering top political appointees to decide who gets grant funding for health research.
“Any attempt to politicize grantmaking … is contrary to congressional intent,” the Maine Republican said in a statement.
Trump wants to issue an executive order to seat White House budget director Russ Vought and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya on a board that would decide which grants the NIH should fund, according to two administration officials granted anonymity to describe a private meeting in the Oval Office last Friday.
Following reports of that meeting, Collins noted Monday that the stopgap funding patch Congress cleared this summer bars the White House from finalizing a separate proposed rule to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants, or “any substantially similar” plan.
The Office of Management and Budget “should not be involved in agency decisions on the awards of grants,” Collins said, adding that “imposing a political review … undermines the long-standing principle that the government funds awards based on scientific need and merit, rather than political ideology.”
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator, called the White House’s latest idea an attempt to “take control over federal funding, so they can use it to punish their perceived enemies and reward their friends.”
Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, warned that the move would mean “a single political appointee could kill a cancer study or an Alzheimer’s trial with no scientific reason at all.”
A spokesperson for House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole did not return a request for comment regarding the Oklahoma Republican’s position.
- Top House Oversight Dem demands answers to Trump’s media ban
- Mike Rogers says Iran war needs to “end quickly” amid rising prices
- The art of dealing with Trump
- Collins slams Trump plan to ‘politicize’ grants as defying Congress
- Big Ag and Big Oil go head-to-head over diesel export ban
- Hinson calls for end to Iran war amid soaring diesel costs
- Senior GOP appropriator pours cold water on funding Trump’s arch
- Pritzker says he’s lost 80 pounds on GLP-1 since diabetes diagnosis
- Michigan’s Gary Peters to teach at USC after retirement
- Jared Golden crosses party lines again, endorsing Mike Lawler for reelection
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