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US House votes today: Status update from Politico:


Farm bill hits House floor today

By RYAN MCCRIMMON ([e-mail]; @RyanMcCrimmon)12/12/2018 10:00 AM EST

Permalink: https://www.politico.com/morningagriculture/

IN THE HOPPER: After months of delays, Congress is making quick work of the farm bill conference report. The Senate easily passed the legislation Tuesday in an earlier-than-expected vote, the House will take it up today, and President Donald Trump indicated he’s likely to sign it.

— House Republican leaders are trying to sell GOP members on the farm bill by talking up provisions to tighten work requirements for certain SNAP recipients. Except… the bill doesn’t really do that, write Pro Ag’s Helena Bottemiller Evich, Catherine Boudreau and Liz Crampton.

— Adding up the final H.R. 2: While the compromise bill was on the Senate floor Tuesday, CBO released its score of the conference report. Find it here.

FARM BILL SPEEDING TO FINISH LINE: The Senate leapfrogged the House and voted 87-13 to pass the legislation, just 18 hours after it was posted online for public viewing. The unexpectedly quick passage puts the farm bill, H.R. 2 (115), in prime position to reach Trump’s desk by Friday.

Next up: The House. The chamber is expected to vote today on the conference report after the House Rules Committee cleared it for floor action Tuesday night.

It’s widely expected to pass with broad bipartisan support, but there could be opposition from some conservatives frustrated the agreement doesn’t include stricter work requirements for able-bodied adults who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

“There is not a single significant conservative win to be found in the entire 800-page monstrosity,” said Caroline Kitchens of R Street Institute, one of several conservative groups that gathered Tuesday to grouse about the lack of farm bill policy wins for their side.

Don’t tell that to House GOP leaders. Speaker Paul Ryan said the bill “strengthens work requirements and boosts work supports so that more people are spurred towards opportunities” — even though conferees widely rejected the major changes to SNAP that Republicans included in the House version.

A spokesperson for Ryan pointed to one provision in the final deal that reins in existing exemptions states can seek for SNAP work requirements. The bill would tweak the policy, but the change is so minimal it didn’t register as saving any money on the official budgetary scores, Helena, Catherine and Liz write.

Despite the lack of changes to SNAP work requirements, Trump gave the farm bill a positive review during a White House meeting Tuesday with Democratic leaders.

FWIW: Trump’s meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi was highly contentious as they bickered in front of TV cameras over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. The public display of discord — including Trump’s threat that he would be “proud to shut down the government for border security” — highlighted why House and Senate ag leaders are racing to clear the farm bill well before the government funding fight comes to a head next week.