WASHINGTON — The Senate Farm Bill has collapsed, its markup indefinitely postponed in a legislative defeat for both parties on legislation governing agriculture policy and food aid.
The central fight is over federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Democrats refuse to advance a bill that shifts benefit costs to states — a core Republican demand.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. said Democrats would "only support a Farm Bill that includes a clean two-year delay of the SNAP cost shift to states." That position has hardened Democratic opposition to the current draft.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, stripped proposed state-level SNAP exemptions and pesticide deregulation from the bill in a bid to find common ground — then acknowledged it still wasn't enough.
"We can have all the organizations in the world support it, as I do, but if you can't find some Democrats to actually vote for it, it doesn't work," Boozman said. The comment points directly to the 60-vote threshold required to clear a filibuster in the full Senate.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is split 11-11, making bipartisan agreement essential. Sen. Mitch McConnell's absence for medical reasons has also given Democrats additional leverage in negotiations.
The Environmental Working Group said the farm bill "falls short by failing to restore the cuts to SNAP that have left more than 1 million children without anti-hunger assistance."
Some agriculture industry groups expressed satisfaction with other provisions, including expanded crop insurance coverage, higher loan caps and funding for rural infrastructure, childcare and broadband.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, indicated that a manager's amendment could extend the SNAP benefit-cost delay through fiscal 2030 — the most direct route to a bipartisan committee vote.
Without a new farm bill, existing agricultural programs and food assistance will continue under an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, leaving farmers and food aid recipients uncertain about future federal support.
