The House Agriculture Committee will try this week to finish a revamp of farm policy that Congress started in last year’s big tax cut and spending measure.
Already, Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) is facing partisan divisions left over from a bruising fight over provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the tension threatens to complicate passage of the new farm bill up for markup.
The session is supposed to begin late Tuesday afternoon. An earlier planned markup Feb. 23 was postponed due to winter weather. And it’s unclear how a planned briefing for House lawmakers on the Iran situation may affect this week’s proceedings.
Although most of Thompson’s proposal is bipartisan — covering conservation, agricultural research and other popular policies — his effort to restrict state regulation of pesticides and shield chemical manufacturers from liability is raising objections from Democrats and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
