Agriculture spending bill fails to pass House due to GOP defections

The House failed to pass the annual agriculture spending bill after 27 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure, dealing a minor setback to GOP leaders as they seek to pass as many appropriations bills as they can before federal funding is set to lapse this weekend.

The votes in favor of the bill came out as 191-237, falling short of the majority votes needed to pass the lower chamber and be sent to the Senate for consideration. The failed vote sends lawmakers back to the drawing board to craft legislation that can garner enough support from all corners of the GOP conference after a substantial number of members voted against the bill.

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Several Republicans indicated they’d vote against the bill due to a provision that would ban a Biden administration rule allowing abortion pills to be sold through the mail and in retail pharmacies. Many of those members who vocally opposed the measure voted to sink the bill, including Reps. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Nancy Mace (R-SC).

Mace was especially critical of that provision, telling reporters earlier this week it would be the “reason why it doesn’t pass.”

“Leadership knew that this was going to be a problem, and yet here we are,” she said.

Other GOP members, such as Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), opposed the bill because of its substantial spending cuts to some of the programs included in the bill aimed at supporting farmers and others in the agriculture sector.

“Rep. Valadao’s main concern with the Ag/FDA bill are the drastic, seemingly arbitrary cuts to programs his farmers and producers depend on to feed the nation,” a spokesperson for his office said.

The annual spending bill is used to determine the budget for the Agriculture Department, the USDA Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration, and other related agencies.

During committee meetings over the summer, House Republicans sought to rein in federal spending through the appropriations legislation by agreeing to a top-line of $25.313 billion for programs included under the bill — roughly a 2.1% cut ($532 million) compared to last year’s levels and 12.5% below ($3.622 billion) what President Joe Biden requested in his budget proposal.

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It’s not yet clear when lawmakers will reconvene to begin working through the legislative text, but it’s expected lawmakers will remain in Washington over the weekend as they seek to avert a government shutdown.

The House met to vote on three other appropriations bills on Thursday night, including those for the Defense, Homeland, and State and foreign operations departments. All three of those passed, giving GOP leaders some leverage to begin negotiations with the Senate.