September 29, 2026

The TAG Newsletter will be paused after this week until Congress reconvenes after the election in November.  

Contents

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

What We’re Watching

Congress 

The Senate remains in session, with hopes to adjourn for the month of October by the end of the week. The House has already left for the pre-election recess, teeing up a busy schedule for members’ return during the lame duck. There is still desire from Committee leadership to clear the deck for appropriations and farm bill, but that will depend on the election outcomes and member attendance for key votes.  

House Agriculture Committee Leadership Races 

Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) has officially launched her bid to be the top Agriculture Committee Democrat next Congress. In a Dear Colleague letter, she discussed how the Committee is at an “inflection point” after changes to SNAP made in 2025 and will focus on affordability. Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) has also expressed wanting a leadership role on the Committee, but it is unclear if he is announcing an official bid.  

Additionally, current House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) is seeking a waiver from leadership to keep his position as top Republican on the Committee. However, Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) has indicated he would like to lead the Committee Republicans and is next in line. Leadership elections will occur the week of November 9^th. 

Senate HELP Committee Holds Nomination Hearing for FDA Commissioner 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held a nomination hearing on Thursday, September 24 for Dr. Heidi Overton, who was tapped after the departure of former Commissioner Marty Makaray. Both sides of the aisle raised concerns, particularly with navigating dynamics with Sec. Kennedy and the White House. Most of the exchanges focused on healthcare topics (vaccines, tobacco, illicit vapes, and mifepristone). However, there were discussions about foodborne illness outbreaks, the decline in the public’s faith in the current HHS and FDA, and the state patchwork of food additive bans.  

Senate Working on Deal for Permitting Reform 

Republican and Democrat Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee and Energy Committee have been working on a deal to reform current permitting process and ways to speed up permits for large infrastructure projects. This comes following a White House compromise on renewable energy and a briefing for policymakers to share broader details. Particularly, Democrats have agreed to making changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. Though a vote is unlikely before recess, there appears to be an appetite to get this issue done before the new Congress.   

Administration

HHS and EPA Announce Partnership on Glyphosate Review 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen scientific coordination and expand the evidence available to EPA’s ongoing registration review of glyphosate under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The MOU outlines how the agencies will exchange scientific information, identify research gaps, and expand research into harmful health effects. The agencies will also establish a joint working group that brings issue area experts from both agencies to identify scientific questions and coordinate research and information sharing.  

NIH Holds Food Is Medicine Webinar on Scientific Analysis  

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities hosted an online seminar on Food is Medicine research and its potential role in addressing chronic disease. The discussion was largely technical and research-focused, with limited emphasis on broader MAHA messaging. Panelists generally agreed that the evidence base for Food is Medicine interventions is growing but emphasized that additional research is still needed to understand scalability, community-specific implementation, and measurable health outcomes.  

USDA Announces Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) Program  

Secretary Rollins announced $26 million of funds through the Rural Development office to go toward a Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) Program. The program aims to provide grant funding to develop value added agricultural products, conduct market research, and implement marketing strategies. Out of the $26 million, $11.6 million will go toward 80 beef producers, while the full amount is expected to reach nearly 200 projects across the country. 

USDA Holds Roundtable on Animal Welfare Oversight 

USDA Secretary Rollins, along with agency officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the USDA Office of Inspector General (US OIG) and the DOJ OIG held a meeting to discuss companion animal oversight. The roundtable included a briefing on new actions through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to advance updates for standards of care, delivering breeder refresher notices, deploying watchdogs, increasing inspector general staffing, and setting compliance goals.  

FDA Publishes Materials from Listeria Public Meeting 

The FDA held a public meeting to discuss Listeria monocytogenes prevention in August and has now released the materials for stakeholder use. During the event, there were presentations and listening sessions on the following topics: Advances in the Understanding and Control of L. monocytogenes; Best Practices in L. monocytogenes prevention; L. monocytogenes Dose-Response Modeling: Applications and Advancements; Using Food Safety Management Systems for Controlling L. monocytogenes in Retail Environments; and Preventing Listeriosis in an Era of Changing Demographics and Dietary Patterns. Meeting participants included domestic and foreign government agencies, food manufacturers, trade groups, physicians, academics, and others. The full webpage with the public materials can be found here.  

U.S.-China Establish Framework for Board of Trade, Trade Truce Extended for Two Months 

Last week Chinese President Xi Jinping was in DC for a series of meetings with President Trump. Just ahead of the meetings, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the two countries agreed to extend the “Busan Agreement” by two months, providing additional time for the two sides to further negotiate additional economic outcomes as the two leaders are set to meet twice more before the end of the year. A handful of other outcomes emerged from the three days of meetings, including a framework for the Board of Trade, a government-to-government mechanism that will allow the two sides to cut tariffs on non-sensitive goods. As part of the framework, the two countries released their respective lists of non-sensitive goods valued at $30 billion each that would be considered for reduced tariffs. The Chinese list for U.S. imported goods included a wide variety of food and agricultural goods, though notably did not include non-seed soybeans. China continues to work on their prior commitment to purchase a minimum of 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually in years 2026, 2027, and 2028.  Other notable actions from the visit included China agreeing to purchase U.S. coal, initiation of a Board of Investment and the start of a bilateral dialogue focused on artificial intelligence safety. You can find the USTR official statement here. 

Notable News

• Trump administration prepares plan for 90-day diesel export ban, Politico reports – Reuters 
• Trump-Xi summit: Four key takeaways from the Washington, DC, meeting – Aljazeera 
• SNAP and Medicaid Will Change Dramatically in October: What to Know – Newsweek 
• HHS’ RFK Jr supports organic as Trump administration backs regenerative agriculture – FoodNavigator 
• FDA Nominee Says Agency Needs More Resources for GRAS – Civil Eats 
• New Research Shows For SNAP/EBT Households Delivery Helps Overcome Significant Barriers – DoorDash 
• More than 160,000 pounds of meat bearing false USDA inspection labels recalled – Associated Press  

This Week’s Legislation

• Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Combatting Pasture Mealybug Act to direct USDA to study the impact of the pasture mealybug and provide Congress with recommended strategies that the Federal Government can quickly deploy. 
• Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC) introduced HR 10580 to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require certain country of origin and method of production labeling for fish. 
• Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) introduced three new bills, the LIHEAP Act, the American Homes First Act, and the Consumer Fuel Prices Relief Act to increase federal support for heating assistance, expand eligibility to more families, and lower gas and diesel costs. 
• Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) introduced the Agricultural Data Privacy Act to require producers’ approval before any company uses their data and prohibit the selling or using of data without farmers’ and ranchers’ written consent.  
• Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced the Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act to permanently increase the federal reimbursement level for all free, reduced-price, and paid-rate school meals by 45 cents for every lunch served and 28 cents for every breakfast served, with a yearly adjustment. 
• Sens. Adam Schiff and John Curtis (R-UT) introduced the Healthy Lungs for Heroes Act to direct USFS and DOI to work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to develop smoke exposure limits for wildland firefighters. 

Upcoming Hearings

Check back in the next edition for more hearings.  

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 James Knupp 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.