House leaders will launch a new Rural Domestic Energy Council to spearhead negotiations on biofuels policy after farm-district Republicans threatened to tank a bipartisan spending package over the exclusion of their legislation.
The concession from GOP leaders Thursday morning underscores the leverage the group of roughly a dozen Midwest and Plains state lawmakers has over major legislation, and it sets up what could be another bruising fight next month over the embattled biofuels proposal.
The move to appease the lawmakers comes as the House is set to vote Thursday afternoon on four fiscal 2026 spending bills, which Congress is working to pass before the end of next week to avoid a partial government shutdown.
The farm-district lawmakers grew frustrated Wednesday when House leaders did not allow a vote on their amendment to authorize year-round sales of E15, an ethanol-based gasoline blend. Some of them suggested they could block the spending package from advancing in protest.
