November 19, 2024

Contents

• What We’re Watching
• Notable News
• This Week’s Legislation
• Upcoming Hearings
• Contact the Team

For more election coverage and what this means for the food and agriculture industry – be sure to read the Torrey Advisory Group Election Analysis here.

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Senate

Congress continues their session this week and will adjourn next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Last week, Senator John Thune (R-SD) was elected as the Majority Leader for the Senate GOP. Senator Thune has served in the U.S. Senate since 2005 and currently sits on the Agriculture, Finance and Commerce Committees. With Republicans taking the majority next year, Senator John Boozman (R-AR) will serve on the Agriculture Committee as Chair, and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will likely serve as Ranking Member. The Senate Democratic Caucus will likely be voting in early December on their leadership positions.

Senators Blumenthal (D-CT), Booker (D-NJ), and Whitehouse (D-RI) have submitted a letter to Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Sandra Eskin around strengthening the Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims. The letter states that the current guidelines fall short of “unfair misuse of animal welfare and animal-raising claims,” and recommend a third-party certification to substantiate the uses of terms like “humane” and “humanely raised.”

House

In the House, Republicans will maintain their majority, currently holding 218 seats and Democrats with 212 seats, and 5 races are yet to be called. For the Ag Committee, three members – Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), lost their election. Rep. John Duarte’s (R-CA) has yet to be called, but he is leading. GT Thompson (R-PA) will continue to serve as the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and David Scott (D-GA) as the Ranking Member at this time.

Last week, Republicans held their leadership elections, with Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) getting a unanimous nomination for speaker. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was selected as majority leader, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) as majority whip, and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) was elected to serve as the House GOP Chair.

Four members of the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to biofuels stakeholders requesting additional input on the biofuels tax credits, namely 45Z. The letter asks for feedback regarding extending the credit, credit eligibility, and compliance with the GREET model. The letter can be found here and comments can be submitted here.

Farm Bill

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has released text for the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, after releasing a framework back in May. The bill includes $20 billion for the farm safety net, $1.4 billion for trade programs like MAP and FMD, and continuation of the update to the Thrifty Food Plan established in the 2018 farm bill. Additionally, her proposal brings Inflation Reduction Act climate-smart agriculture funding into the bill. A summary can be found here, and the text can be found here.

Yesterday, Senator Stabenow gave remarks on the Senate floor urging her colleagues to support the bill, and criticized the GOP version that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in May. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who is anticipated to be the next Democratic leader on the Agriculture Committee following Senator Stabenow’s retirement, has been vocal about wanting to get a bill done before next year. However given the limited time frame, and frustrations from Republicans including Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) over the late release of the text, an extension of the current bill is still likely. 

Administration

Trump Administration Nominations for 2025

President-elect Trump announced a number of his nominations for cabinet members in the past week. The nominees include former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum for Energy Czar and Secretary of the Department of Interior, Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy, former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as Attorney General. Additionally, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been appointed to a new, non-official government agency dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency.

Notably, President-elect Trump has nominated RFK Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, to advance the Make America Healthy Again agenda. Some of the priorities RFK Jr. has proposed include overhauling FDA employees, getting rid of the Dietary Guidelines, and defunding the nutrition department in the FDA. A nomination for the Secretary of Agriculture has not yet been announced.

White House Requests Disaster Aid

The White House has officially requested $100 billion in emergency funding to help mitigate the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) this week. Out of the total amount, $40 billion would go to the main disaster relief fund at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, $24 billion would go toward helping farmers, and $12 billion would be allocated toward community development block grants to be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

REAP Funding Released

Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA will be rolling out investments through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Around $256 million will be distributed in loans and grants that will support more than 1,100 clean energy projects across 40 states. USDA has distributed over $2.7 billion through REAP loans and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.  

Notable News

ICYMI: Watch Torrey Advisory Group’s Mike Torrey on AgriPulse Newsmakers here

• Food Aid Interventions Can Curb Climate Change-Induced Hardship. But Should They Do More? – AP News
• Senate Republicans Squirm Over Trump’s Tariff Plans – Politico
• As California Taps Pandemic Stockpile For Bird Flu, Officials Keep Close Eye On Spending – CapRadio
• Trump’s Immigration Plans Would Bring Economic Toll – New York Times
• FDA Commissioner: We Need Action And Higher-Quality Research On Ultra-Processed Foods – STAT News
• Congressional Baking Caucus Established – Baking Business

This Week’s Legislation

• Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced a bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and administer a pilot program to provide grants to support Food is Medicine programs.
•  Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-FL) introduced the Youth Climate Leadership Act, which would codify the Youth Advisory Council at the EPA.
• Congressman John Joyce (R-PA) introduced a resolution to support the recognition of November as “National Bread Month.”
• Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced a bill to appropriate funding to the Disaster Loans Program Account. 

Upcoming Hearings

Tuesday, November 19

• 2:30 PM: The Joint Economic Committee will be holding a hearing titled “Building on the Success of TCJA: The 2025 Tax Policy Debate.”

Wednesday, November 20

• 2:00 PM: The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy will hold a hearing titled “Tax Policy in 2025: Implications for the American Economy.” 

Contact the Team

Feel free to contact Michael Torrey, Tara Smith, Cassandra Kuball, Barbara Patterson, Katie Naessens, Julie McClure, Nona McCoy, Danielle Nelson, Ashley Smith, Olivia Lucanie, Caroline Snell, Heath Brandt, Tracy Boyle, or Grace Walker with any questions or comments.

Food and agricultural organizations that need the right results in Washington, D.C. can trust Torrey Advisory Group to put its relationships, reputation, and expertise to work on your issue. Since 2005, the firm has successfully provided legislative and regulatory guidance, issues management, and association management services to a wide variety of clients. Learn more about us at torreydc.com.