House Defeats Farm Bill as Conservatives Seek Immigration Vote

After dealing with a host of amendments, the final vote on the House version of the farm bill turned out to be a defeat via a 198-213 count, with 17 lawmakers not voting.Democrats held to their promise that they would not support the bill in its current form over provisions in the bill that would make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Even with some other changes to the bill that came about during the host of amendments that were considered by the chamber, in the end, conservative Republicans were the key to the bill failing to advance.Conservative Republicans kept pushing for a vote on immigration legislation, with their push focusing on getting a vote on that area before the farm bill vote.This is no doubt why House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, kept saying he was still trying to find the votes for the package right up until the last minute.“We experienced a setback today after a streak of victories all week," Conaway said. "We may be down, but we are not out. We will deliver a strong, new farm bill on time as the president of the United States has called on us to do. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers and rural America deserve nothing less.”The ranking Democrat on the panel, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, said the vote reflected Republicans trying to go it alone to get the bill done. "It’s unfortunate the Republicans chose to take this path, and it’s clear from their inability to get the necessary votes from within their own caucus that there are internal fractures they have to contend with," Peterson stated. "But this is a good opportunity for us to return to the table and fix this bill before we move forward. As I said in my remarks Wednesday, this job is too big for one party. Let’s come together and figure out a bill that works for everyone. We don’t have to let this process be held hostage by the demands of the extremes of our parties. We can and should take the time to get the farm bill right.”From the administration, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said, "A farm bill is necessary to provide our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers with the stability and predictability they need. Our farmers feed the people of this nation and the world, and they deserve the certainty of a farm bill.”