Following the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as speaker of the House, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, called on Congress during a Senate speech to pass an extension of the current farm bill.
“I know we will need an extension,” she said. Any extension of the farm bill would most likely need to go in the next government funding stopgap measure, which, according to reporting in Politico, some House Republicans are already pressing Johnson to include in the next government funding bill. Lawmakers are already starting to work on a such a stopgap measure ahead of another potential government shutdown on Nov. 18.
Stabenow said the new farm bill will not be enacted until next year because of continuing disagreements over issues such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits and higher crop subsidies. “I am committed to passing a strong, bipartisan farm bill as soon as possible,” she said. Some lawmakers said, however, it’s possible that new farm bill reauthorization might even wait until the next Congress given recent legislative gridlock in the House and the upcoming 2024 election.
