House passes sprawling farm bill despite GOP infighting
The House on Thursday passed a major bill reauthorizing agricultural and food programs for the next five years, overcoming GOP infighting that delayed and threatened to derail the legislation this week.
The lower chamber voted 224-200 to pass the measure, with 209 Republicans, 14 Democrats and one independent voting to support it. Three Republicans and 197 Democrats opposed the measure.
The legislation would “expand investments in rural communities, bring science-backed management back to our national forests, and restore regulatory certainty in the interstate marketplace,” among other things, according to the House Agriculture Committee .
The farm bill was at the center of a storm of controversy this week. In an apparent compromise to advance the measure out of the Rules Committee, GOP leaders agreed to couple it with another yet-to-be-voted-on bill that would allow for the year-round sales of gasoline with ethanol content known as E15.
Sales of E15 have been typically restricted for parts of the year due to smog concerns, and it is a major priority of corn-state Republicans to codify year-round sales. But oil-state Republicans had concerns about the E15 bill and pushed back.
Several of those members said that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had agreed to delay a vote on the farm bill to give lawmakers time to resolve disputes over the provision as part of a deal to secure support on a procedural rule advancing the farm bill and other major legislation on Wednesday.
But later that day, House GOP leaders sent out a notice saying the lower chamber would vote on amendments to the legislation. That infuriated farm-state and oil-state Republicans and threatened to derail an unrelated but must-pass bill the House voted on Wednesday night.
“We got the rule passed with the discussion in the back that we would … delay voting on the farm bill and E15. But then a lot of the E15 proponents are very interested in the farm bill progressing,” Johnson said Wednesday night.
Under the eventual deal reached, the House is set to pass procedural legislation the week of May 11 to decouple the E15 measure from the farm bill while also ensuring an up or down vote on an E15 bill, members said after the meeting.
Another major sticking point was provisions related to pesticides, which split the party between pro-business Republicans and anti-pesticide members of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement. Those provisions were aimed at limiting lawsuits against pesticide makers, preventing localities from adding additional pesticide regulations and that would block the need for additional permits for pesticide use.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) sponsored an amendment to strike all three provisions , which was adopted.
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