The U.S. Congress faces a final five-week session with a Dec. 11 deadline to fund the government and an attempt to unblock the farm bill, stalled by the dispute over SNAP. Democrats will take control in January.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, is seeking a pathway to pass the farm bill before the new Congress is seated early next year, during a lame-duck session of about five weeks in which Republicans still control both chambers despite the defeat they suffered in the midterm elections.
The immediate priority is to pass a government funding bill before Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown. With no time to negotiate the twelve fiscal year appropriations bills, which would total around $1.9 trillion, Congress is expected to turn to another stopgap measure to extend funding into next year, when Democrats will negotiate with President Donald Trump.
Thune told reporters on Monday that “obviously there are a lot of things out there that need to be done” and that he would like to “figure out a pathway to get the farm bill done,” though everything will depend on “what we have the votes to do and then the time on the clock.” On funding, he anticipated that he will assess what other bills might be attached to that legislation.
The SNAP impasse stalls the farm bill
The five-year farm bill, a substantial package of farm aid and nutrition programs, remains stalled by the disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over how long a delay certain states should get before they begin contributing funds to benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman is offering a one-year postponement as a final offer, while the panel's top Democrat, Amy Klobuchar, is demanding at least two years.
Klobuchar is also the governor-elect of Minnesota, one of the states that would be on the hook for SNAP payments next year due to its error rates, even though states with higher error rates, such as Alaska, get more time. Boozman warned that “family farmers contending with numerous challenges to their viability cannot afford another Farm Bill delay.”
Sen. Jim Justice, a West Virginia Republican, acknowledged that his party must give ground: “We're going to have to work together, and we're going to have to make concessions. We need a farm bill really bad, and there's no excuse for us not having a farm bill already, because you got a lot, a lot, a lot of folks out there really hurting, and if we didn't hear the voice loud and clear in the midterms, we're living in a cave.”
E15 and pressure from corn
Without an agreement on SNAP, the farm bill is unlikely to move forward, which would delay the updating of key programs and put in doubt priorities such as the expansion of E15 ethanol. The National Corn Growers Association on Monday urged Congress to approve this year the year-round voluntary sale of blends with 15% ethanol.
“We hope Congress will ignore the many distractions that are so prevalent during lame-duck sessions and demonstrate that they are here to make a difference for the American people,” said Matt Frostic, a Michigan farmer and president of the organization. “Farmers cannot afford further delay.”
The bill approved in September by the Senate Agriculture Committee includes E15, while the House passed a stand-alone E15 measure in May. Both are opposed by petroleum groups due to provisions that would alter how exemptions to the biofuel rule for financially stressed refineries are handled.
Other legislative priorities
Congress could also send the president the annual defense policy bill (NDAA), which has been approved annually for more than 60 years. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers called its passage his “highest priority” and warned that not passing it “would not only weaken American deterrence, but also abandon critical support for our men and women in uniform, including a pay raise and better access to healthcare and childcare.”
House Republican leadership will have to decide whether to put a college sports bill that the Senate approved earlier this year up for a vote. A spokesperson for the Senate Commerce Committee maintained that “there is no realistic path to secure the same broad, bipartisan support for a new bill in 2027 and beyond.”
On permitting, the Senate held a test vote on Monday on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), which seeks to speed up construction of energy projects by streamlining regulatory reviews. Trump on Sunday urged all senators to back it as a “big win” for U.S. energy independence.
Leadership and the new political balance
Off the floor, House Republicans will vote behind closed doors on who will lead them in the minority in the next Congress, after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he will not seek to remain at the helm; the race pits Republican Leader Steve Scalise against Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan. The Senate will settle its leadership on Tuesday.
The debate comes after a tough Republican defeat in the midterm elections: Democrats will have 54 Senate seats versus 44 for Republicans, with two races yet to be called, and 254 House seats versus 164, with 17 races still undetermined.
Asked whether he believes he has enough votes to be reelected Republican leader, Thune anticipated a “very engaged discussion” on Tuesday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on his chances of presiding over the House, said: “I guess we'll find out next Wednesday.”
Agricultural and market agenda
In the Senate, Republicans hope to use the remaining time to confirm nominees, with judicial candidates as the priority, before Democrats take the majority. The Senate Agriculture Committee will consider on Tuesday the nomination of Gregory Ibach as the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for trade and agricultural foreign affairs, along with Farm Credit Administration nominees.
Outside the Capitol, USDA on Tuesday publishes its monthly crop supply and demand estimates (WASDE), after recently correcting some of its September corn data. On inputs, key nitrogen fertilizers remain far above a year ago despite cheaper U.S. natural gas: “Seven of eight major nutrients rose month over month, and all eight were higher year over year. U.S. nitrogen prices follow the global market—including Middle East urea prices, European gas costs, Chinese export policy and Hormuz risk,” said analyst Susan Stroud of No Bull Ag.
