The House Agriculture Committee entered its second day of farm bill markup with tensions rising, as the long-running divide between nutrition spending and farm programs once again took center stage. The debate over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and commodity support has stalled a comprehensive update to the nation’s farm safety net for at least three years.
Republicans previously navigated around that impasse by increasing crop support levels using savings from SNAP changes included in the president’s tax and spending package last July. That move is now drawing sharp criticism from Democrats, who argue the legislation imposed stricter work requirements that they say reduced SNAP spending by $187 billion.
Top Agriculture Committee Democrat Angie Craig pushed back forcefully during the markup.
“Cutting SNAP by 187 billion dollars has already resulted in hundreds of thousands of Americans having their food assistance either cut or taken away.”
Republicans defended the policy changes, arguing that work requirements are reasonable and emphasizing that farmers are also facing significant economic pressure. Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson said last year’s tax bill strengthened the farm safety net by increasing reference prices and expanding other key programs.
“Making crop insurance more affordable and doubling trade assistance. And by the way, many of you in the room supported that because those were bipartisan initiatives that we put into the last farm bill that we marked up.”
Majority Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment to restore the SNAP funding on a voice vote. Democrats then requested a recorded vote, which was postponed. The clash underscores how politically charged the SNAP-versus-farm-programs debate has become, particularly in a midterm election year. With the current farm bill last renewed in 2018, the divide over nutrition funding once again threatens bipartisan support for getting a new five-year bill across the finish line.
