With a full farm bill renewal continuing to elude Congress, some members on the House Agriculture Committee are pushing Republican leaders to include portions of a farm bill reauthorization in the upcoming reconciliation bill.
While conversations are still in the early stages, five sources familiar with the discussions told NOTUS that members were serious about getting at least some farm bill provisions included in reconciliation.
Asked about that effort, one lawmaker on the House Agriculture Committee — who spoke to NOTUS on the condition of anonymity — suggested that renewing farm bill programs through reconciliation made sense.
“Would seem logical, wouldn’t it?” this member said, noting that “the entire” 1995 farm bill was originally done through reconciliation. (Then-President Bill Clinton vetoed the reconciliation package and the farm bill passed on its own in 1996.)
Congress hasn’t passed a full farm bill since 2018. And since 2023, when the five-year lifespan of the farm bill was first coming to an end, lawmakers have been renewing the bill through short-term extensions. The current farm bill expires on Sept. 30.
But lawmakers are increasingly doubtful that Congress will be able to pass another full farm bill anytime soon. The farm bill marries a number of partisan and geographical factions together. Democrats largely support the legislation because it handles food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Republicans in the South support the bill because of the sugar subsidies that benefit farmers in their areas. And many lawmakers from both parties representing northern states vote for the farm bill because of the dairy subsidies that keep milk prices in check and dairy farms in business.
Those marriages, however, appear increasingly tenuous, as Republicans look to cut SNAP benefits and some conservatives want to cut farm subsidies in general. With those political issues in mind, some Republicans on the Agriculture Committee want to renew some crop insurance programs, some commodity programs and some farmer safety nets through reconciliation.
“Whatever methods are necessary for us to be able to address the needs of our farmers across the country, I’m for,” Rep. Rick Crawford, a member of the Agriculture Committee, told NOTUS. “I think, in the end, if that’s what it takes to get it done, that’s fine.”
“That said,” Crawford continued, “I’d rather address this in one single process like we do traditionally in farm bills. But the reconciliation vehicle may become necessary.”
Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, the chair of the committee, has already said — as he told The Hagstrom Report — that including portions of the farm bill in reconciliation is an “option.”
“All options are on the table to secure a stronger safety net for our hardworking farmers,” Ben Goldey, a spokesperson for the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement to NOTUS on Monday.
Another wrinkle in the farm bill discussions is a potential trade war that President Donald Trump could kick off this week with sweeping tariffs. Many lawmakers expect U.S. trade partners to retaliate, which would lead to further economic strain on farmers.
All of those factors are leading to some lawmakers thinking they need to deliver some relief.
“The farm bill is past due, and we know reconciliation is moving, the farm economy is in the dumps, hence the $10 billion passed in the continuing resolution for economic aid,” one of the sources familiar with the matter told NOTUS. “If we don’t strengthen the farm safety net via a new farm bill or reconciliation, we will need to ask for even more economic aid at the end of the year again, and nobody wants that.”
While the Trump administration is mulling an aid package for farmers to help them combat the possibility of reciprocal tariffs, lawmakers could provide additional help legislatively.
“There’s ongoing discussions about what ag policy changes can be done in reconciliation, some members have expressed concern around impacts of tariffs and how relief will be needed,” one senior GOP aide texted NOTUS.
But it’s unclear if Republican leaders actually intend to include farm bill provisions in reconciliation. For one, those provisions could complicate the vote problems for leaders. For another, those provisions could also increase the bill’s price tag.
The Republicans who want to include some farm bill provisions are hoping that Trump would simply pressure conservatives to support the reconciliation bill. But Trump and Republican leaders may just as easily tell the farm bill-minded lawmakers that it isn’t happening and dare them to stand up to Trump.
—
Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.