House appropriators on Monday will release their plans to fund the Agriculture Department — legislation that ran into bipartisan trouble last year because of deep cuts to popular programs.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, has signaled a desire to scale back Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s authority to spend funds from the Commodity Credit Corp. for administration priorities.
Such sentiments are part of a Republican backlash for Vilsack’s $3.5 billion climate-smart agriculture grant program paid for with CCC money. Harris has accused the secretary of treating the CCC as a “slush fund.”
Harris has also continued to advocate for reining in aspects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including restrictions on high-sugar foods covered — an issue he raised with Vilsack at a budget hearing earlier this year.
