Federal food aid in GOP’s debt limit crosshairs
With help from Marcia Brown
QUICK FIX
— A top House Republican confirms they’re considering new work requirements or general cuts to federal food assistance in the brewing debt limit fight. The House GOP has talked about the idea behind closed doors for months, but has been coy about discussing the matter in public.
— House Ag Chair
— MEET PETER WELCH: MA caught up with the new Senate Ag Democrat for a look at some of his early farm bill priorities. And, he told us he’s planning to chair the panel’s rural development subcommittee.
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Driving the Day
DEBT LIMIT BATTLE: New work requirements for federal food assistance for low-income Americans, or possible outright cuts to the programs, keep coming up in closed door conversations among Republicans as they weigh the way forward on the brewing debt limit fight, according to people familiar with the matter.
Long-running battle: Some Republicans think they’ll have a better chance of pursuing their yearslong effort to cut back on SNAP spending and add work requirements in debt negotiations rather than in farm bill, where Democrats are likely to strip it out.
While some top Republicans have been publicly coy in public about their plans, House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger confirmed it’s under consideration.
“We’re still looking at it. Haven’t made a decision yet,” Granger told MA, when asked if food assistance spending cuts or new SNAP work requirements are on the table.
Her colleagues have declined to go that far, on SNAP or any other specific cuts they’re eyeing. No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise, asked if federal food assistance cuts are on the table, told MA: “We want to save taxpayers money and get spending under control in Washington.” House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said “it’s not ripe for discussion yet.” Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), one of the 20 McCarthy holdouts in the speaker race, replied, “We’re waiting on the president to negotiate.”
However, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told MA she thinks work requirements for food aid and other federal benefits “are a conversation that lawmakers need to have, absolutely, whether it’s this fight or the next one.”
But House Ag Chair Thompson dismissed calls by his fellow Republicans to target the program in the debt limit fight, saying he would be “shocked” if SNAP is touched in the debt ceiling battle. He wants to leave any SNAP discussions for the farm bill talks.
HEADWINDS FOR REPUBLICANS: Emergency pandemic-era SNAP benefits are ending this month. And, work requirements that had been paused during the pandemic are returning as well as the public health emergency is set to end in May.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate, especially given the fact that so many families are struggling under this Biden inflation and which makes it tough,” Thompson said of any SNAP cuts or new work requirements in the debt limit fight.
Real world impact: The return of work requirements will bring additional challenges for SNAP recipients and their caseworkers — especially for the most vulnerable.
Those seeking SNAP who have limited or no access to identification can end up locked out of work requirements and their benefits, according to Wilfredo Morales, a caseworker who registers people for SNAP at St. John’s Bread and Life in Brooklyn, New York. That’s because many companies and hiring facilities might not accept anything short of government-issued ID for employment. It can take months and in some cases years to obtain personal identification, especially for those starting without even a birth certificate or Social Security card.
“If you hit the brick wall and you don’t give them that document, you will be discontinued,” Morales said.
What to do about ABAWDs: The return of work requirements is sure to bring back congressional debate over able-bodied adults without dependents.
ABAWDs are usually the target of imposed work requirements, but vulnerable populations might not be able to verify their work.
“Our single population here, who can maybe get day laborer work, that’s problematic for them,” said Sister Marie Sorenson, the associate executive director at St. John’s Bread and Life.
Democrats, meanwhile, are livid about federal food assistance being in GOP crosshairs. They note part of the current debt was created during former President Donald Trump’s presidency, when Republicans passed a tax cuts package.
“I can’t imagine anything more cynical than paying for a tax cut for billionaires with food assistance for people who are struggling and on the edge of going hungry,” said Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.). “Yet, that’s exactly what they’re proposing.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans’ specific plans are still unclear. But if the GOP pursues returning to 2022 budget levels, it would mean “massive cuts across the board,” possibly 18 percent, she said. “So they’re prepared to cut everything.”
CHINA U.S. AG LAND DEBATE: As the U.S. reevaluates its relationship with China, the debate over whether Congress needs to enter the fray over Chinese and other foreign entities buying U.S. farmland, sometimes close to military installations, is reaching a fever pitch.
While the calls for a federal ban on China buying up U.S. farmland are growing on Capitol Hill, one key Republican has yet to sound off: House Ag Chair Thompson.
“There were a lot of members that because it was on cable news, they wanted to shoot from the hip,” Thompson told MA in January. “I came out of health care, I don’t do that. We’ll take action once we have facts.”
Future hearing: As we’ve reported, Thompson has already requested a review of the matter from the Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. Now, he tells MA he wants to hold a hearing on it in the coming months, possibly by April. (Though it’s likely the federal review he’s requested takes longer, which could push that hearing closer to the summer.)
As part of the speaker race battle, a group of far-right Republicans, included in their demands to Kevin McCarthy that “the farm bill must … block Chinese government land-buying. (That rhetoric is likely to only ratchet up after the GOP uproar over the recent Chinese balloon.)
But, according to Thompson, it won’t be part of the farm bill, but instead will be a separate process.
“I don’t believe that’s a farm bill issue,” Thompson said. “And the Ag Committee can walk and chew gum. We also have to do cryptocurrency — and thank god that’s not in the farm bill.”
Thompson and other farm-state lawmakers acknowledge there are serious national security concerns in specific states, including around one proposed Chinese-owned corn mill near an Air Force base in North Dakota. Land purchases by foreign entities with national security implications are supposed to be reviewed by a federal body, but some lawmakers recently have expressed concerns about that process, pushing for USDA to get more involved.
Still, Republicans are divided about the way forward.
“I’m always very sensitive to federalizing something,” said former House Ag Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). Senate Ag Republicans Mike Braun (Ind.) and Roger Marshall (Kan.) both said it was critical to carefully craft any plans so they protect personal property rights and avoid government overreach.
Now, a growing number of their Republican (and a few Democratic) colleagues are prepping a firehose of legislation on the topic. Thompson predicted “we’ll see thousands of bills” in the meantime.
One new bill, as we’ve reported, goes beyond China, and also targets Russia, Iran and North Korea. Last week, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced their Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act — the Senate version of a bill from House Ag members Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y).
2024 impact: It’s clear from the rhetoric on Capitol Hill that the issue will feature heavily in key 2024 races, including in Montana, a red state where Tester is up for reelection.
FARM BILL BATTLES
MA sat down with Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to discuss some of his big farm bill goals as he takes over from his predecessor, longtime Ag Committee member Patrick Leahy. Welch said he’s eager to preserve Vermont’s commitment to agriculture and its voice at the table in Washington. Here’s part of his conversation with Meredith.
Q: What are some of your big farm bill targets in the upcoming talks?
A: Dairy, organics and value-added local cheese and vegetable production: All of these are extremely important areas for Vermont, and they all are tied together because it’s local agriculture. Local agriculture may be one thing in Vermont and another in Ohio, but local agriculture is important to everybody.
Nutrition programs: Patrick [Leahy]'s been a champion of that, and I’ve been a strong advocate in the House. And that’s intimately connected with the needs of everyday people and especially kids. But there’s nothing that makes our farmers feel better than to know they’re providing nutritious food to all of us.
Climate change: Agriculture has to play a major role in reducing carbon emissions and we have to make it possible financially for them to do it. There’s got to be carrots and sticks. And I think there’s a growing awareness that how we do agriculture can be significantly impactful on reducing carbon emissions, but it’s got to be done in a way where we’re supporting the farmers to do that.
Bipartisan ties: Politically, I see a huge opportunity for me on that Agriculture Committee to start establishing really good relationships with my Republican colleagues. Of course, so much of rural America has Republican representation. But the challenges that many of those members face in their districts are similar to the challenges we face in rural Vermont. And it’s a way for me to work together with them and hopefully help create a problem solving orientation here bipartisan.
Q: For dairy or organics, are there any specific tweaks you’d like to see in the farm bill?
A: The Margin Protection Program always has to be adjusted to take into account market realities. And so there’s a constant focus on how it is we can do that.
You can’t have a one size fits all approach to agriculture in general. So how do you adjust policy where you have that vast difference in size? And for Vermont, it’s really essential that we have programs that work for the small producer, and I believe that’s really essential.
Q: It sounds like you’re confident in Chair Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) ability to brush back GOP efforts to include food assistance cuts or new work requirements in the debt limit fight. Is that right?
A: I think we’re playing with fire on the debt limit. And that is just an underlying, ongoing issue that all of us are going to have to be dealing with and it’s going to have major impacts on the budget, and on our fiscal credibility. But Sen. Stabenow is the best person we could possibly have chairing the Agriculture Committee. And it is a combination of the respect that she’s earned over the years, doing a really good job and her wily knowledge about the ins and outs of what senators need and what’s in the farm bill.
Q: Are you planning on chairing any Senate Ag subcommittees?
A: I’m going to chair the Rural Development Subcommittee. Quite excited about that. I’m going to talk to my colleagues about it. But the challenges for rural America, broadband, housing, hollowed out local economies — that really has to be dealt with. And it again affects folks who are in red districts and folks in blue districts.
Row Crops
— Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) guest for the state of the union address Tuesday will be rancher Paul Bruchez, an indication of the senator’s emphasis on water and farm bill issues. POLITICO’s Annie Snider profiled him back in 2020.
— The next farm bill listening session will be Feb. 14 in California, Thompson announced Friday. Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) will also join.
– Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have reintroduced several bills aimed at the agriculture industry, including a bill to protect meatpacking workers. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union praised the bill, adding that it will hold the industry accountable and make the food supply chain “more resilient.”
— ICYMI: USDA is proposing stricter requirements on added sugar and ratcheting down sodium levels in school meals.
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