After a nine-hour markup on Friday, Agriculture Democrats rammed through an incomplete, partisan, and unvetted budget reconciliation package to the tune of $66 billion. The measure omitted $28 billion in additional spending after House and Senate Democrat leaders failed to draft a conservation title or obtain a CBO estimate. After various questions were posed from both Republicans and Democrats, Chairman Scott informed Members the missing funds will be inserted “as the bill heads to the floor.”
Following the charade, Republican Leader of the House Agriculture Committee, Glenn “GT” Thompson issued the following statement:
“It’s Groundhog Day here at the House Agriculture Committee. Despite touting his commitment to bipartisanship, Chairman Scott sadly fell in line with Speaker Pelosi yet again during the second hyper-partisan reconciliation process this year. I’m greatly disappointed to see my colleagues across the aisle so brazenly disrespect the long bipartisan history of this great Committee by supporting this socialist spending spree.
“Leading up to the 2018 Farm Bill, Republican Committee leadership held more than 100 public events for members on both sides of the aisle to better understand the needs of farmers, ranchers, and foresters. Instead of taking a strategic pause to thoughtfully review this legislation, Democrats voted to advance it. This bill prioritizes partisan pet projects over the needs of our nation’s farm families and doesn’t dedicate a dime to crucial programs like the commodity safety net, crop insurance, broadband, or disaster assistance.
“Friday’s markup was a disastrous sham from start to finish, and my Democrat colleagues should be ashamed of their complete disregard of process and decorum. Democrats refused to adequately address the implications of President Biden’s many tax proposals, and ultimately, farm families will end up footing the bill for this reckless spending package. The message couldn’t be clearer—President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and Congressional Democrats are perfectly fine leaving rural America in the dust.”
