The chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture committees traded barbs over the 2024 farm bill Tuesday, as the legislation showed no sign of breaking through a partisan logjam.
In the Senate, Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) charged that the Republican-written bill in the House is tilted to southern farmers at the expense of coalitions that have held the legislation together in the past.
House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) at a hearing dismissed the often-mentioned coalition as a “one-sided, partisan talking point” and said he — not the Democratic-led Senate committee — is pursuing the bipartisan path.
As the leaders vented, Thompson told POLITICO’s E&E News he’s begun this week to round up Republican votes in preparation for possibly bringing the bill to the House floor in September, although the timeline is threatened by difficulties passing annual appropriations bills.
