(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee will begin reviewing its version of the Farm Bill tomorrow (Thursday). Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is a member of the panel.
The last Farm Bill was passed eight years and was due for a rewrite in 2023, so congress has passed several extensions of the 2018 version. The One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump signed in July of last year included some federal farm policy updates. Grassley expects a vote in the Senate this week on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to be confirmed for the post. He’s also lobbying for a confirmation vote on Glen Smith of Atlantic, who’s nominated to be the next U-S-D-A Under Secretary for Rural Development. As congress readies for its annual August recess starting next week, Grassley says the Senate may take a vote on a stop-gap spending plan to keep the government operating past September 30th — the last day of the federal fiscal year.
Grassley says Republicans want to avoid a rerun of last year’s showdown with Democrats seeking an extension of some Affordable Care Act tax credits — an impasse that led to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
