Block proposed in bid to lift spending cap on aid to farms

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Chairman Nita Lowey, DN.Y., is proposing to block the White House request over its farm bailout program, according to a draft of legislation reviewed by The

Washington Post, potentially holding up President Donald Trump’s schedule to direct payments to thousands of farmers.

A key Republican responded by attacking the Democrat’s move, saying it could threaten passage of a key bill needed to avoid a government shutdown. The bailout has emerged as one

of several unresolved issues lawmakers still need to sort out in order to meet a deadline by the end of this month.

The bailout program was created last year after complaints from agriculture groups that China had stopped purchasing their crops in retaliation for new tariffs the White House imposed on Chinese imports. Trump has ordered that billions of dollars in taxpayer funds be paid directly to farmers as a way to offset their losses.

The bailout hadn’t needed congressional approval up to this point, but now the timing of the payments is tied to such approval.

The Department of Agriculture is planning to spend upward of $ 28 billion in payments over two years, but the Depression-era program Trump is using for the program has a $ 30 billion borrowing limit that it is expected to hit this year before the completion of a second round of payments.

If Congress does not act, then some of the bailout money Trump has promised farmers could not be paid on the administration’s timeline. On Thursday, a Department of Agriculture spokesman said the money would still go out, but the timing of the program could be affected.

In new legislation to fund the government into November, Lowey left out the White House request that would allow the administration to avert the program’s $30 billion spending cap that the payouts are expected to hit this fall. As head of the appropriations committee, she has broad power to decide what is included in any spending bill. And lawmakers from both parties are under pressure to pass a new spending bill in the next few weeks, or they will risk a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Republicans suggested that they might not agree to fund the government if it leaves the bailout issue unresolved. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, said Republicans would not accept any limits on the farm credit program while the trade dispute is underway.

“Farmers have been hurt, The U.S. government is appropriately responding,” he said. “It’s not clear to me whether or not this is a negotiating tactic by our friends on the other side, but I do think it’s important for America that this be resolved.”

Lawmakers from both parties are hopeful that they can pass the stopgap spending bill and then continue negotiating a longer- term agreement.

Lowey’s legislation is an initial proposal that is expected to change. Democrats are aiming for the “narrowest” possible bill that would be able to pass Congress and avert the government shutdown, according to an aide with knowledge of the document not authorized to speak publicly, avoiding the farm bailout and other charged requests from the administration.

Evan Hollander, a spokesman for Lowey, said in a statement: “The American people deserve a robust debate on the costs of the Trump trade war. The clean [continuing resolution] that House Democrats have circulated will keep the government open and provide time for Congress to have that debate.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said in a brief interview that the agreement to keep the government open would include “clean” measures agreed to by both parties.

“I am going to be talking to [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell. But we do not intend to put anything into it that we think is controversial,” Hoyer said.

Lowey added that the bill is still being worked on and that there “are many discussions going on” but that Democrats “hope to keep this bill as clean as possible.”

Lowey’s move is one of the first signs that Democrats may look for ways to dig in and force the White House to either make other concessions or revise the bailout program, which some critics say disproportionately benefits wealthy farmers.

Her proposal to fund the government, intended for circulation among lawmakers, is the party’s initial offer in its plan to fund the government until Nov. 21. The continuing-resolution proposal aims to maintain the status quo while averting a looming government shutdown, which is why it sidesteps controversial requests from the administration, such as the farm bailout.

The White House has relied on billions in direct payments to farmers to help them survive the trade war with China, as China has responded to U.S. tariffs with retaliatory actions that have targeted American agriculture.

The Trump administration is using the New Dealera Commodity Credit Corp. as its basis for paying out the “trade mitigation” funds without congressional approval. Earlier this month the Trump administration sent a letter to Congress asking for changes that would in effect increase how much it can distribute through the Commodity Credit Corp.

If Congress does not provide the additional funding in time, the administration warned in its letter to lawmakers, the program “would have to stop making payments … posing a serious risk for the farmers and ranchers supported by these programs.”