In the wee hours of the Saturday before Christmas (AKA Super Saturday), President Biden officially signed a stopgap spending measure into law, offering over $100 billion in disaster relief and farm aid.
It also provided the funds needed to keep the federal government up and running through mid-March 2025 and extended the farm bill for an additional year, which is widely regarded as the cornerstone of U.S. food and agriculture policy.
But while the legislation helped the U.S. government narrowly avoid a looming shutdown, its passage was an arduous affair involving three attempts that were rife with more melodrama than even the most heated holiday gathering.
So, why was it so difficult to pass – and what will it accomplish?
A Mad House (of Representatives)
By December 17, U.S. congressional leaders had settled on a bipartisan agreement. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that President-elect Trump “torpedoed” the deal due to heated criticism from Republican lawmakers claiming several of its provisions were irrelevant to disaster recovery or government funding.
A second slimmed-down version of the proposal was hastily shot down that Thursday by all but two Democrat lawmakers and 38 Republicans despite Trump’s backing. And while it included many of the original and agreed-upon provisions, it removed others related to 9/11 healthcare funding, China investments, and more.
The discourse on the House floor eventually became so contentious that the presiding lawmaker, Rep. Marc Molinaro, reportedly broke his gavel while trying to restore the peace.
Eventually, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s third try proved to be the charm. Late in the evening on December 20, the Republican-run House approved the measure 366-34, and the Democrat-controlled Senate followed suit 85-11.
The bill’s highlights include extending government funding through mid-March 2025 and the existing farm bill by one year, as well as providing $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in economic aid to farmers.
Why the Farm Bill Matters
A farm bill is a massive spending package that supports crucial farming programs and helps to ensure U.S. food security through initiatives like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
While lawmakers technically renegotiate farm bills every five years, they have extended the current bill twice since its original passage in 2018. And although an extension is better than an expiration, experts warn there will be hefty consequences if a new farm bill isn’t passed within the next year, including the end of important agricultural safety net programs, which could detrimentally impact farm operations and further spike food prices.
“The economic and disaster assistance in the continuing resolution (CR) is a temporary fix to long-term challenges facing America’s farmers. The farm bill extension also offers a short reprieve and gives lawmakers some breathing room to pass a modernized farm bill that will provide risk management support,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau.
“We urge them to build on the bipartisan efforts demonstrated during the CR to pass a new five-year farm bill that delivers certainty for rural America and ensures a stable food supply for the nation.”
The Food Institute Podcast
Is it possible to balance a legacy brand and innovative ideas for a food company? Bibie Wu, chief communications and technical development officer with Del Monte, shares how her company respects its past while looking to the future, and how her dual roles in marketing and product development inform each other and improve the company.
