Lawmakers struggle to reach deal to avert government shutdown

Source: The Hill

12/15/24 9:31 PM ET


Congressional negotiators are struggling to reach a deal to keep the government’s lights on past Dec. 20. Text of a continuing resolution (CR) for a government funding package was expected on Sunday ahead of the looming shutdown deadline. But lawmakers failed to release the text, with economic assistance for farmers emerging as an apparent last-minute sticking point. Key players had indicated this week that the forthcoming CR, which keeps the government funded at current levels, would also include another one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill, as both sides have struggled to agree on a longer-term plan.

But lawmakers had also ramped up talks of potential add-ons to provide economic assistance for farmers as part of the broader funding plan. Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.), the top Republican on the subcommittee that oversees agricultural funding, said in a statement on Saturday that GOP leadership backed a proposed package of “$12 billion of relief for economic losses and $16 billion in weather-related assistance” that he was hopeful of being attached as part of the year-end stopgap funding deal.

“While we have kept this proposal clean of potentially partisan additions, we have not yet received the Democratic support we need,” he said at the time. “We encourage the nation’s farmers, ranchers, and agriculture stakeholders to let their representatives know how critical it is for the Continuing Resolution to include both economic and weather agriculture assistance for America’s producers.”

Meanwhile, Democrats took aim at Republicans over the sputtered talks. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and House Agriculture Committee ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) said on Saturday that GOP leadership turned down a $10 billion offer, rejecting “needed economic assistance and increased conservation spending for decades.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/business/budget/5041514-government-funding-deal-shutdown-farm-assistance/