Congress has voted to extend temporary funding again to keep the government open, but in the process has likely produced more delays in writing a farm bill. That has led to frustration among members of Congress hoping to complete work on the farm bill early in 2024.
“No progress” is how Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst described farm bill efforts almost four months after the last farm bill expired and was extended by one year.
With House and Senate lawmakers extending temporary funding until March to keep USDA and other federal agencies operating, no permanent funding solution has created more uncertainty. Senator Ernst was asked outside the Senate about the impact of continued fights over full-year spending bills on the farm bill.
The Senate passed just three of 12 full-year spending bills, the House seven, while defeating USDA’s over a mail-order abortion pill rider along with farm and other cuts. Ag Democrats are also voicing frustrations, including Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow.
House Speaker Johnson faces renewed pressure from Freedom Caucus conservatives to fight the Senate over social policy and border immigration riders. Disagreements also continue for scarce farm bill dollars. Senator Ernst on Secretary Vilsack’s focus on CCC funds as a solution.
Stabenow, in her final year before retiring, insists a farm bill can get done this year before the need for another one-year extension.
