The House of Representatives today rejected the farm bill (H.R. 2) by a vote of 198-213. The bill – which provides agriculture subsidies and funds SNAP – failed to garner any Democratic support after Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) included harmful proposals to limit access to SNAP and impose stricter work requirements. Some moderate Republicans also balked at the bill’s significant changes to SNAP. The House Freedom Caucus played a significant role in the outcome of the bill by withholding support for the farm bill until Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) promised a vote on a controversial hardline immigration measure. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story for the House Farm Bill, as a second vote may be taken before Tuesday.
Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has consistently signaled that the Senate farm bill will be a more bipartisan process. NWA applauds the House on rejecting this damaging proposal and looks forward to a bipartisan farm bill in the Senate.