Senate Farm Bill Committee Vote Scheduled For Wednesday

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is expected to cast the winning farm bill vote in the Senate Ag Committee on Wednesday after a three-month absence due to a fall and mild case of pneumonia. McConnell, in a wheelchair and looking frail, told reporters on his return Monday that he’s “determined to work to pass farm legislation.”

That was music to the ears of Senate Ag Chair John Boozman, who told colleagues when the GOP-led farm bill failed in August.

“I spoke with Senator McConnell. I know how much he would have wanted to be here to advocate for Kentucky’s farmers and rural communities. We look forward to welcoming him back to the committee soon,” Boozman said last month.

And senators did welcome McConnell back this week and will do so again later in the day when Boozman has scheduled a re-vote of the Farm Bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune sits on the Ag Committee and will decide when the farm bill comes to the floor.

“Mr. Chairman, I spend a lot of time with farmers and ranchers back in South Dakota," Thune said. "They talk to me about the uncertainty and the headwinds that they face. And I’ve listened to their priorities and made them my own.”

The question now is whether Democrats will vote in lockstep against advancing the bill on the Senate floor over its SNAP reforms the way they did in committee.

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