A lingering fight over how much corn-based fuel Americans put in their gas tanks brought the House to a standstill for hours Wednesday, delaying consideration of critical legislation extending farm and food programs and also jeopardizing a resolution meant to unlock funding for immigration enforcement.
As the night dragged on, Republican supporters of higher-ethanol fuels said they’d secured a pledge from the Republican leadership for a vote in May on lifting summer restrictions on the sale of E15 fuel, which is 15 percent ethanol and a top priority for the biofuel industry.
That helped make way for launching initial debate on the farm bill — which went into the morning hours — and also clearing a Senate-passed budget resolution to launch a second party-line GOP reconciliation process.
“It’s critically important to our agriculture industry and refineries across the Midwest,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), a member of the Agriculture Committee. “That’s all we’ve wanted, to bring this to the floor for a vote.”
