Highlighted by the internal battles of House Republicans, the 118th Congress has been one of the most dysfunctional in American history. Things are so bad that even a major bill to help U.S. farmers has been sidetracked for two years.
One would think that the Republican Party’s deep ties to rural America and farmers would guarantee action on the Farm Bill, a sweeping policy plan for U.S. agriculture. But again this year, GOP leaders couldn’t get the Farm Bill to the House floor and many farm policy provisions expired Oct. 1.
For Capitol Hill veterans, this is about more than farm policy: It’s another example of a legislative system that is collapsing from a lack of cooperation.
“Among the many failures of the 118th Congress, failing to pass the Farm Bill twice might top the list,” said Josh Huder, a Congressional expert with Georgetown University. “It is a profoundly bad sign for the institution.”
Huder is right. The Farm Bill rewrite — which takes place every five years — usually is a bipartisan exercise. But partisan deadlock might now be the new norm.
For example, many Republicans want higher farm subsidy payments to be offset by cuts to SNAP nutrition programs — a policy choice that Democrats hotly oppose. And with concerns over the price tag — now pegged at $1.5 trillion over 10 years — House Republicans can’t muster the votes to approve a GOP bill.
Across the Capitol, Democrats released the outline of their own Farm Bill plan, but made no effort in this election year to bring that to the Senate floor.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Farm advocacy groups have been left perplexed by a second year of legislative inaction.
“Farmers were told lawmakers just needed more time to pass a Farm Bill,” said Zippy Duvall, the affable Georgia farmer who heads the American Farm Bureau Federation.
It’s still possible that the Farm Bill could get dealt with during a lame duck, post-election session of Congress. But the agenda on Capitol Hill is crowded. Action is needed on a hurricane disaster relief bill, on government funding for next year and an annual defense policy measure. Those bills will need broad bipartisan support to get through the House, something the Farm Bill doesn’t currently have.
“It feels like Groundhog Day,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently told reporters.
That’s a common theme for the 118th Congress, which has seen a lot of fireworks but has produced only 106 laws — 10 of which were bills naming post offices.
For now, the Farm Bill remains grounded. That’s a bad outcome for farmers and a bad sign about Congress.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at jamiedupree.substack.com
