The House is poised to vote this week on whether to keep controversial pesticide language in the farm bill after a revolt from some Republicans and Make America Healthy Again activists.
House GOP leaders drafted a rule Tuesday to move forward with the farm bill and other key legislative priorities this week after overnight negotiations.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and other MAHA-aligned Republicans have threatened to withhold support for the bill unless the pesticide provision — which bars states from creating pesticide labeling laws that differ from EPA guidance — is stripped.
Luna said Monday she would “BLOW UP the farm bill” if the pesticide language wasn’t removed.
The draft rule, which was obtained by POLITICO, would still need to clear the committee and be adopted by the House before Luna’s amendment could get a floor vote.
House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) defended the pesticide language Monday during a Rules Committee hearing, sparring with Democratic lawmakers who slammed the provision as a “liability shield.”
Farm state Republicans have worried the Luna amendment will pass if it’s allowed a floor vote, noting only one Democrat opposed a similar measure in the House Agriculture Committee.
The fight over pesticide manufacturer health risk liability has reached a fever pitch in Washington this week. The Rules Committee’s decision comes the day after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case weighing whether Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, should be preempted from failure-to-warn claims for cancer risks associated with pesticide use.
Other amendments made in order to the draft rule include adding hot rotisserie chicken as eligible to be purchased using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, banning “painful” dog and cat testing, and repealing the transfer of the Food for Peace international aid program to the Agriculture Department while giving the president authority over the initiative.
The Rules Committee also made in order an amendment from Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) to remove emissions mandates on farm equipment after she threatened to vote against the rule.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
