June 3, 2025

Contents

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

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Reconciliation

Congress returns this week from the Memorial Day recess and all eyes are on the Senate as they begin working through the House passed reconciliation package. In addition to tax cuts and funding for boarder security, the reconciliation package includes changes to Medicaid in the form of work requirements and pieces of the farm bill, most notably on SNAP would be state-based cost-sharing and changes to benefit levels. The mega bill must now be negotiated in the Senate, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) having to navigate potential changes that will allow the bill to pass through the Senate but can still be approved by the House when it is sent back. Leadership is hoping to pass the package by July 4, but it is unclear whether this will be enough time.

Administration

President’s Budget Request Released for USDA

On Friday, the White House released their Fiscal Year 2026 USDA Budget Summary, which includes a more in-depth overview of budget requests, cuts and specific programs. The budget requests $23 billion for USDA, a $7 billion or 22% cut from current levels.

Almost all USDA programs saw funding cuts at some level, but the budget proposes significant cuts and even elimination of large programs in the Rural Development, Risk Management, and the Forest Service. It would also cut funding for the Farm Service Agency by $372 million, the Natural Resources Conservation Service to $112 million (from $916 million currently), and the Forest Service funding would decrease to $4 billion as Secretary Rollins looks to move this department to the Department of the Interior. It also reduces SNAP funding by about half, and WIC, though mentioned in the summary, would receive $300 million less than it did previously. The House Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee will be holding a markup on the appropriations bill this week discussing proposed spending cuts and program changes.

Court Rules on Trump Administration Tariff Plan

The Court of International Trade heard and ruled that President Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs on every country utilizing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) last week. President Trump has used IEEPA as the justification for most of his tariff announcements on “Liberation Day.” However, a federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated President Trump’s widespread tariffs as it considers the request to keep the tariffs in place during litigation. As of now, the tariffs will remain in place, however, the issue is still being litigated. Meanwhile, Secretary Rollins will be visiting Italy this week to discuss market access for American farmers.

USDA FNS Releases SNAP Waiver Tracker

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) released a tracker of states that have received approval for SNAP waiver requests, often which exclude candy, soda, and some categories of snacks from being purchased with the program. So far, Secretary Rollins has approved waivers in Nebraska, Indiana, and Iowa, and indicated more approvals will be coming. The full map can be found on the webpage.

USDA Provides Funding to Farmers for Drought and Wildfires

Secretary Rollins announced that the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments will be unfrozen and have been released by May 30 to cover grazing losses due to drought or wildfire events in 2023 and 2024. This funding has been appropriated under the American Relief Act, which funds emergency relief payment. ELRP is one of the two programs used to provide aid to farmers following extreme weather events, and a second round of ELRP funding will be announced later this summer.

Notable News

• Who Regularly Uses the Nutrition Facts Label? Exploring Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Differences – USDA Economic Research Service
• Exodus of USDA veterinarians and others drives fears that U.S. farms are at risk – NPR
• Trump Tariffs Get to Stay in Place for Now. What Happens Next? – BBC News
• RFK Jr.’s MAHA report cited nonexistent studies – ABC News
• Exclusive: White House considers plan to clear record backlog of small refinery biofuel waivers – Reuters
• Supreme Court limits environmental reviews of infrastructure projects – NPR

This Week’s Legislation

• Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) introduced legislation to waive the matching requirement under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
• Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) introduced an amendment to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act regarding third-party contracts for wildfire hazard fuel removal and for the threshold for advertised timber sales.
• Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced the Interactive Federal Review Act, which would direct the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to select a minimum of ten federal highway projects to demonstrate the use of interactive, digital, cloud-based platforms to speed up the environmental analysis. 

Upcoming Hearings

Tuesday, June 3 

• 3:00 PM: The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee will hold a Meeting to consider S.222, Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025

Wednesday, June 4

• 10:15 AM: The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a hearing on “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.”
• 2:45 PM: The Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on “The Aging Farm Workforce: America’s Vanishing Family Farms”

Thursday, June 5

• 10:00 AM: The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology will hold a hearing on “Supporting Farmers, Strengthening Conservation, Sustaining Working Lands.”
• 10:00 AM: The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on “Barriers to Supply Chain Modernization and Factor Productivity Enhancements.”
• 10:00 AM: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies will hold a Markup of the FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Bill  

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.