There is deep skepticism in House Republican leadership that the chamber will consider the party’s version of the FY2025 farm bill on the floor before the lame-duck session of Congress.
The majority of policies in the farm bill expire at the end of this year. The House Agriculture Committee passed the legislation out of the panel late last month.
But the bill hasn’t been scheduled for a floor vote. And most key figures in House Republican leadership think the legislation will be extended on a short-term basis after the election.
Why? Because passing a farm bill is hard. The legislation includes not only agricultural policy but also nutrition provisions such as SNAP and other social safety net programs.
House Republicans have called for deep cuts to such programs, boxing out Democrats who would traditionally vote for the package and giving pause to GOP lawmakers who don’t want to be seen messing with low-income benefits. The GOP leadership is skeptical of putting bills on the floor that divide Republicans — especially with a single-digit seat majority.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said Republican leaders haven’t given him a date for considering the bill on the floor. He acknowledged that July is a busy month with little time to consider legislation.
“’I’m always hopeful,” Thompson told us. “We got good, decent bipartisan support. We even got folks in committee that voted against it, they called me the next day, just talking about how good the bill was.”
Here’s what House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said when we asked him if the bill would get a vote before the election: “We’re told that’s the plan, but we haven’t seen it.”
