April 8, 2025

Contents

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

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Budget Reconciliation

Over the weekend, the Senate passed an amended version of their budget resolution. It is currently in the House, where it has received pushback from some of the House Freedom Caucus members. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is looking for the House Rules Committee to adopt the resolution this week to tee up a vote on the floor on Wednesday. The White House has put pressure on leadership to pass the package to begin progress on President Trump’s legislative agenda, however, conservative Republicans are hesitant to support it given Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington’s (R-TX) remarks criticizing the provisions. The House has a much higher target for cuts than the Senate does, which should provide more flexibility on negotiations, yet it may cause more problems than anticipated.

FY 2026 Appropriations Deadlines

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) released guidance on earmarks requests for FY26 on Wednesday afternoon. In a Dear Colleague letter, he has limited each member to 15 projects, which are due on April 14. Subcommittee chairs will be sending specific guidance for each bill by next week. All projects that were included in House Reports for Fiscal Year 2025 are eligible in Fiscal Year 2026 but must be resubmitted. 

Democrat Letter on Food Bank Funding Freezes

House Democrats sent a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins asking for clarity on food bank funding freezes. The letter was led by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN) and Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH). Lawmakers are seeking information from USDA on if The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) funding has been permanently rescinded, if previously approved purchases have been cancelled, and if USDA has any plans to offset these reductions or address potential shortfalls in federal assistance. The letter asks for a response from USDA by April 18, 2025. This comes after USDA canceled $500 million in deliveries to food banks under TEFAP. 

Reduction in Force at Agencies

Last week, agency secretaries were due to submit their reduction in force (RIF) plans as part of the administration’s push for scaling down workforce size and increasing agency efficiency.  

USDA sent an email to staff offering another round of deferred resignation, but notably some positions were not eligible due to being “mission critical”. Additionally, it is anticipated another 30-40,000 workers will be cut from the agency. HHS Secretary Kennedy told reporters that after cutting about 10,000 agency workers, that he’ll be “reinstating 20%” due to mistakes, like reducing critical food safety and public health divisions. The House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ag-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-GA) released a joint statement urging the administration to notify the Committee when USDA Secretary Rollins will be available to appear in front of the Committee to testify on widespread cuts. This follows the announcement that hearings with various Secretaries have been postponed indefinitely.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy has been invited to brief the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week about the HHS RIF plan but has not committed to a briefing yet.

Senate Letter Urging for Year-Round E15  Sales

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) led a letter asking President Trump to permit the year-round sale of E15 fuel through the summer of 2025. The letter received bipartisan support and encouraged the use of temporary waivers under the Clean Air Act to extend the Reid vapor pressure waiver through the summer driving season. The letter says that the waivers will “allow our domestic energy supply chain to continue to quickly and reliably respond to fuel supply challenges brought on, in part, by the war in Ukraine, which unfortunately continues to weigh on global energy and security.” The full letter can be found here. 

Administration

Tariff Announcements

The President declared a national emergency and invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) to address the large trade deficit. His new EO sets a baseline 10% ad valorem tariff on imports from all countries effective April 5, with a higher tariff on approximately 60 countries the United States believes have the most unfair trade relationships effective April 9. In a separate EO, Trump officially ended the de minimis trade exemption for China effective May 2. China has announced retaliatory tariffs on American goods at 34% starting on April 10. The Torrey Advisory Group has released a comprehensive memo on the current status of tariffs which can be found here.

MAHA Movement on the Road

Secretary Kennedy will be visiting various locations across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to meet with legislators, tribal leaders, nutrition stakeholders, and schools on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda starting this week. He will hold two public press conferences, one in Salt Lake City, Utah, and one in Phoenix, Arizona with state legislators. The focus of the meetings will be on MAHA legislation, like restricting SNAP and banning ultra-processed foods in public schools, nutrition-based health clinics, food sovereignty initiatives, and schools that have implemented new curriculum on healthy eating and physical fitness.

Separately, Secretary Kennedy and USDA Secretary Rollins co-hosted a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) event at an elementary school. According to USDA, the event was an opportunity to learn more about the impact that federally funded nutrition programs have on children and signaled their strong partnership to work together to achieve their vision for a healthier America. Rollins stated “Our farmers, ranchers, and producers dedicate their lives to growing the safest most abundant food supply in the world and we need to make sure our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food we produce. There is a chronic health problem in our country, and American agriculture is at the core of the solution.”

USDA Releases REAP and HBIIP Funding

USDA Secretary Rollins announced the unfreezing of funding for the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to upgrade rural fuel stations to sell ethanol-blended fuels. Earlier this year, the USDA Rural Development Office announced a round of funding awards for REAP and HBIIP of around $5.6 million in grants. 

Notable News

• Without support from Washington, Missouri soybean farmers will lose out on new fuels | Opinion – The Kansas City Star
• Grocery Shoppers Will Feel the Tariffs First in the Produce Aisle – New York Times
• US farm, food groups largely critical of Trump tariffs – Reuters
• RFK Jr.’s bid to clean up food draws on state bans – Axios
• Army Corps unveils plan to expedite energy permits – E&E News
• Trump Tells Inner Circle That Musk Will Leave Soon – Politico

This Week’s Legislation

• Reps. Norma Torres (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA) introduced the Removing Nitrate and Arsenic in Drinking Water Act, which would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act, providing $15 million in grants for fiscal year 2026 and every year thereafter to fund nitrate and arsenic reduction efforts. 
• Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Chelie Pingree (D-ME), and Deborah Ross (D-NC) introduced the Women in Agriculture Act to create a Women Farmers and Ranchers Liaison within USDA.
• Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Save Our Seafood (SOS) Act to help the seafood industry by exempting fish processors from the H-2B visa caps. 
• Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-UT) introduced the Healthy Lunch for Healthy Kids Act, which would ban a range of additives, including food dyes, from being served in public schools.

Upcoming Hearings

Tuesday, April 8

• 10:00 AM: The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Power of Work: Expanding Opportunity through SNAP”
• 10:00 AM: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water will hold their Member Day hearing.
•  10:00 AM: The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on “The President’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda”
• 10:00 AM: The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to examine the nominations of Stephen Vaden, of Tennessee, to be Deputy Secretary, and Tyler Clarkson, of Virginia, to be General Counsel, both of the Department of Agriculture.

Wednesday, April 9

• 10:00 AM: The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on “The Trump Administration’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda with United States Trade Representative Jameison Greer”
• 10:00 AM: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a business meeting to consider S.154, to amend the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015, to reauthorize the Colorado River System conservation pilot program, S.362, to allow certain Federal minerals to be mined consistent with the Bull Mountains Mining Plan Modification, S.544, to provide for the location of multiple hardrock mining mill sites, to establish the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund, and S.714, to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to include critical materials in the definition of critical mineral.

Thursday April 10

• 10:00 AM: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings to examine the nominations of Preston Griffith, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary, and Dario Gil, of New York, to be Under Secretary for Science, both of the Department of Energy, and Kathleen 

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 Sowinski, Eden Lambert, 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.