Senate Control Moves to the Republicans

The Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate. Arkansas Senator John Boozman will chair the Senate Agriculture Committee and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar will be the Ranking Member. Informa Economics Washington analyst Jim Wiesemeyer said the election may push the farm bill to the priority list in the lame-duck session. “I think this ups the odds of at least a possibility that we’re going to have the meeting of the minds in the four corners in agriculture in the House and the Senate and we could well see it.” Time is of the essence because there are a lot of big-ticket issues on the agenda next year, including the budget, tax cuts that expire at the end of 2025 and an increase to the debt limit.