House Rules Committee Reviews Ag Policy Provisions

After meeting for nearly 12 hours, the House Rules Committee advanced President Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ early Wednesday morning. It passed on a 7-6 vote with two Republicans joining the Democrats against this proposal. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson said this bill includes a historic investment in the farm safety net. “These much-needed changes mitigate further on budgeted ad-hoc spending and prevent a full-blown financial crisis in farm country that could devastate the food and ag supply chain, let alone the economy,” said Thompson. “We take care of a few other important items like investment in trade promotion, animal disease preparedness, specialty crops, dairy, research, and some programs that currently are without a standing baseline.” Ranking Member Angie Craig also testified, speaking out against the way farm policy is being handled in this bill. “This bill sells out our farmers and the families they feed,” said Craig. “The chairman talked about the (farm policy) elements in this bill; we should be doing this in a farm bill, a full five-year farm bill with 12 bipartisan titles.” The Minnesota lawmaker also criticized the cuts made to SNAP funding, calling it “a disgrace.”