The House Agriculture Committee early today approved a new farm bill by a vote of 33 to 21.

Four Democrats joined all Republicans to vote for the bill. The four Democrats were Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., who had earlier delivered a blistering critique of the Republican bill, and Reps. Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Erik Sorensen of Illinois, and Don Davis of North Carolina.

In an interview after the vote, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said he was “surprised” that he got “a somewhat bipartisan vote.”

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Thompson said he does not expect the bill to come up on the House floor until September because he sees “all the weeks” in between being busy with appropriations bills. Thompson added that he is “all in favor” of the appropriations bills take precedence.

In addition he said the extra time will allow him to work with the Congressional Budget Office on the score on the bill. CBO so far has allowed only an $8 billion offset for the bill’s provision to suspend Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. Thompson wants a $53 billion offset to pay for an increase in reference prices that trigger farm subsidy payments.

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Thompson said he believes CBO will move closer to the number he wants, but that if he does not get the whole $53 billion, he will have to make adjustments to save money.

If he has to cut spending, Thompson, said he would prefer not to lower the reference prices and said he might cut some of the bipartisan innovative programs that are included in the bill instead.

Thompson said CBO initially did not want to provide any offset from the provision to require that any rewrites of the Thrifty Food Plan to be budget neutral, but had finally agreed to a $27 billion offset.

In a statement, Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., the ranking member, said, “House Republicans have marched themselves off an ideological cliff on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).”

“I hope that once Republicans recover from this self-imposed stumbling block, that they will return to the negotiating table to pursue a truly bipartisan farm bill,” Scott said.

“Farmers know that the only way we get them the support they need is through bipartisanship. The Republican strategy was to intentionally split the traditional bipartisan farm bill coalition by pitting farmers against food banks, environmental advocates, labor unions, and the American families who rely on the healthy, nutritious foods that farmers grow. That is not a genuine bipartisan process.

“This bill may have advanced out of committee, but it has no future. It does not have the Democratic support necessary to be brought to the House floor. It will not become law. There is still time for Republicans to come to their senses and strike a bipartisan compromise. House Democrats will be here, ready and willing to work, once they do.”

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a news release, “I commend Chairman GT Thompson and his team for putting in the hard work to draft a farm bill that embraces bipartisan priorities and ushering it through committee approval.”

“Chairman Thompson’s bill incorporates stakeholder input in a manner that mirrors much of what Senate Republicans are seeking to accomplish with our framework,” Boozman said.

“The House bill modernizes the farm safety net, expands market access, maintains a focus on locally-led conservation programs, ensures Americans in need will continue to receive nutrition benefits and it invests in the rural communities our farmers, ranchers and foresters call home — all while finding solutions for funding these and a host of other widely supported priorities.

“This is the first real progress toward a new farm bill becoming law.

“My colleagues and I on the Republican side of the committee are committed to moving the process forward,” Boozman said.

“We intend to release our farm bill framework that reflects the Senate’s shared commitments across all 12 titles in the coming weeks.”

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said, “I’m glad that Chairman Thompson is working to move the process forward so that we can complete our work on the 2024 farm bill this year.”

“Despite areas of common ground, it is now clear that key parts of the House bill split the farm bill coalition in a way that makes it impossible to achieve the votes to become law. And it is also clear that we do not have time to waste on proposals that cannot meet that goal.

“My door remains open, and I am ready to find a successful way forward. Working together, I know we can pass a strong, bipartisan bill that keeps farmers farming, families fed, and rural communities strong,” Stabenow said.

Earlier, the Republican majority rejected Democratic amendments that would have struck provisions that prevent noninflationary increases to benefits under SNAP, suspend Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and remove the climate-related guardrails on conservation money in the Inflation Reduction Act as it is moved into the farm bill.

In late action, the committee passed an amendment introduced by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., that amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to say that any use, application or discharge of a registered pesticide consistent with its labeling approved under the act shall be considered permitted and considered lawful without further permitting or approval requirements. Some Democrats objected to that amendment, but it passed by voice vote.

Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, brought up an amendment to allow the purchase of hot foods under SNAP, but he withdrew it.

Several amendments related to bioenergy and bioproduct labeling were brought up and withdrawn.

Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., brought up an amendment to require the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to conduct a study analyzing whether Midwestern crop insurance premiums are subsidizing Southern crop insurance premiums and to take action to make adjustments, but he withdrew it.

A protester who objected to the bill aiding animal agriculture and another who urged more support for plant-based agriculture briefly interrupted the proceedings, but they peacefully followed guards out of the room.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, offered an amendment to bar any meat and poultry processing entity from entering into a contract with USDA if the entity has been found to engage in serious, repeated or pervasive violations of child labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., offered a secondary amendment to include a Government Accountability Office study on how companies can use the e-verify system and end up employing children without their knowledge.

That led to a lengthy debate about both the Gosar amendment and the secondary Van Orden amendment. Gosar said his target was big companies that contract with the government, but Republicans noted that it would apply to subcontractors. Republicans also said the proposal may have an impact on the cost of food, particularly for the school meals program.

The Van Orden amendment passed by a vote of 29 to 25 along party lines.

Gosar said he won’t be able to support the farm bill because the secondary amendment supports the powerful. Gsoar said the companies had already used their consolidation to raise prices, while paying ranchers less for their animals and also employing children while they get multimillion dollar contracts with the federal government.

The underlying Gosar bill with the Van Orden secondary amendment passed by voice vote, with vigorous opposition from the Democrats.

At 12:20 a.m. Nunn introduced an amendment to stop the use of government research funds for lab-grown meat, but he withdrew it.