Happy New Year! There has been considerable activity in Washington, DC since many of your institution's began their winter break. Below is a lightly edited version of an update from Lewis-Burke Associates, which some ECOP leaders received on December 23. One other update, based on activities that have happened since December 23, is that Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been elected as Speaker of the House. He served in this role at the end of the most recent Congress, as well.
Continuing Resolution/Farm Bill Extension
As you may have seen, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution package to avoid a government shutdown.
Key aspects of the package:
- Extends government funding at mostly FY 2024 funding levels through March 14
- $100 billion emergency disaster relief to address recent natural disasters
- Farm bill extension, including $10 billion in disaster aid for farmers
- Extension of certain healthcare programs and policies
While an earlier draft package provided continued mandatory funding for Title VII “orphan programs”, the final version did not include this bridge funding. The lack of inclusion does not mean these programs will not be included in the next version of the farm bill it only means the programs will not receive mandatory funding in this one-year extension. Programs impacted:
- Scholarships for Students at 1890s
- Urban, Indoor, and Emerging Agriculture
- Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR)
- Emergency Citrus Research and Extension Program
Scholarships for Students at 1890s: Although making permanent the 1890s Scholarship program was included in a draft CR package, the final extension does not make the program permanent. As this would have been an “anomaly” in the clean extension, we suspect leadership is waiting to act on making this program permanent in the next full reauthorization of the Farm Bill. It is also important to note that Scholarships for Students at 1890s will continue to receive funding via discretionary appropriations.
Boozman Announces Senate Ag Committee Republican Membership
Senate Republicans announced committee rosters with the Senate Agriculture Committee adding Jim Justice (R-WV) and Jerry Moran (R-KS). While Senate Appropriations Subcommittees have yet to be announced, there is significant overlap between the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee with Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Hoeven (R-ND), John Boozman (R-AR), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) on both committees. Finally, new Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) will remain on the Agriculture Committee and has already said passing a Farm Bill next year is a priority.
For additional information: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/20/congress/senate-gop-committee-assignments-00195791
Trump Nominates Stephen Vaden as Deputy Secretary of Ag
Yesterday, President-elect Trump announced Stephen Vaden as his nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Vaden is a judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade and was USDA’s General Counsel during the first Trump Administration. The full announcement from Truth Social is below:
“I am pleased to nominate Stephen Alexander Vaden to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, where he will work with our Great United States Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins.
In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform. Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade.
Judge Stephen Vaden resides in Union City, Tennessee, where he helps manage his family farm.
