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Apr. 22, 2024 POLITICO reports: Chair Thompson said that reading an opinion piece penned by House Ag ranking member David Scott (D-Ga.) was the "first time" he'd heard of Democrats' opposition to key aspects of the Republican farm bill proposal. "It's unfortunate committee Democratic leadership are negotiating in the press," Thompson told MA. "What matters is whether Democrats want to participate in a farm bill, and we haven't heard from minority leadership in weeks." "They still have no plan, and that's why their rank and file members are upset," he added. Scott said in the opinion piece that Thompson's farm bill plans are "abandoning bipartisanship." But House Dems haven't put forward an alternative framework to Thompson's -- and we've reported Democrats have struggled over a potential counteroffer. Scott instead called on the Republican chair to stop his current push on the farm bill with just weeks to spare. Timeline: Thompson is looking at a committee markup on a day sometime between May 14 and 17 or the following week between May 21 and 24, as we've reported. The ranking member specifically called out the GOP's proposal to limit future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan and opposition to using internal USDA Commodity Credit Corporation funding. On the Hill last week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack implored lawmakers not to restrict his authority over the CCC as a way to pay for the farm bill. Key Scott departure: In another wrinkle for Democrats -- just weeks to go before the pivotal markup and with negotiations over the bill still live -- Scott's personal chief of staff Catherine Harney has left his office, three people familiar with the matter tell Meredith. The move is a huge shift for Scott's team. As we've reported, Harney also held immense control over the Ag Committee's workings. Some Democratic panel members grew frustrated over the years that they were often only allowed to talk to Harney about key committee issues, rather than Scott himself. Tweet |
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