After months in neutral, the farm bill process took an important step Thursday by moving through the House Agriculture Committee. The nutrition title was the biggest point of contention. In the hearing, Committee Chair Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson cited a decision by the Biden Administration to increase food stamp spending. “In 2021, President Biden unilaterally, intentionally, and, according to GAO, unlawfully updated the Market Basket to no longer be cost-neutral resulting in a $256 billion addition to the farm bill baseline.” The Georgia lawmaker said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his team increased SNAP spending “through a rushed process devoid of thoroughness and filled with politics.” Thompson said it is important to remember nutrition spending took a one percent cut in the deficit reduction exercise of 2014, “yet farmers had to face an astonishing 25 percent cut.”
