WASHINGTON — After a three-hour delay, the House began debate on a broad series of legislation, including a bill that sets national farming and nutrition policy, after Republican leaders corralled enough support from critics within their own political party.
With a vote of 216-210, lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon advanced that bill — an immense piece of legislation Congress writes every five years known as the “farm bill” — and separate bills to authorize a federal spying law and to fund immigration enforcement agencies.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who holds a narrow House majority — a fact Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s (R-7th) prolonged absence and Rep. Analilia Mejia’s (D-11th)’s recent election have exacerbated — struggled last week to pass bills in the chamber.
“Hearty congratulations to Mike Johnson for successfully persuading his caucus to vote for a procedural rule,” Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, posted online, ribbing the speaker after the vote closed Wednesday. “Doesn’t happen often, but doggone it, he did it today, and only took 3 hours of floor time.”
The other measures the House moved forward Wednesday are a budget plan that sets Congress on a multi-step course to passing as much as $140 billion in new funding for two federal immigration agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“I don’t necessarily like the way we’re doing this. But there has to be adults in the room,” Pennsylvania Republican Lloyd Smucker said during floor debate. “Republicans are going to stand for the safety and security of the American people.”
Democrats have come up empty in their monthslong effort to rein in ICE and CBP. In particular, they have pushed for judicial warrants for immigration actions, protection from raids of sensitive locations like churches and schools, and for agents to remove their masks and use body cameras.
In an interview with NJ Spotlight News on Wednesday night, Rep. Herb Conaway (D-3rd) acknowledged Democrats have yet to force changes.
“All we’re asking for by the way is that the law enforcement agents that work for ICE and CBP comport themselves like every other law local enforcement officer that they know. That they follow the constitution. That they are not accosting people on the street,” Conaway said.
Republicans are using a method called “budget reconciliation” that will enable them to pass this new round of immigration funding for the Trump administration’s hard-line anti-immigration agenda without Democratic votes.
The third significant bill percolating in Congress is legislation to extend U.S. law that empowers intelligence officials to surveil foreign nations — a power that U.S. officials have abused. The program in question under that law is called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
During the Biden administration, Congress reauthorized and expanded the program to give it bigger reach. Two years later, the sticking point remains a push, from most Democrats and some Republicans, to require warrants for FISA searches.
Members of both parties, including New Jersey lawmakers, submitted hundreds of amendments to the bills, in particular to the farm bill. Out of hundreds submitted, 57 were made in order and may get votes, including a closely-watched amendment to remove language from the broader bill to shield pesticide companies from lawsuits. In large part due to a hang-up over that immunity language, and pressure from Republicans aligned with the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” movement, House leaders pulled the farm bill from the floor Wednesday night, putting off final passage.
Amendments from New Jersey lawmakers included a bipartisan amendment to prohibit the flight of live male roosters for cockfighting, another proposal to ban the killing of horses for human consumption and several measures to increase funding for food-aid programs. They will not get floor votes.
A limited number of amendments overall will receive floor votes, but Republican lawmakers are unlikely to allow significant debate, given their majorities in both the House and Senate.
Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could block thousands of lawsuits against the German agrochemical firm Bayer, which owns Monsanto, the maker of the Roundup, the weedkiller chemical. Bayer’s U.S. headquarters is in New Jersey.
Roundup is a popular chemical product sold worldwide. But it contains glyphosate, a chemical linked to cancer. In 2015, a division of the World Health Organization reviewed about 1,000 studies and found that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
A favorable ruling from the court could insulate Bayer from paying billions in legal settlements.
In February, Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients unveiled a proposed settlement worth $7.25 billion to end lawsuits alleging that the company did not properly warn Roundup could lead to cancer.
A member of the Senate agriculture committee, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) filed a brief in the case.
“A consciousness is growing in our country, there are more and more people realizing that we have the power to win this fight, if only we can wake more people up, get more folks off the sidelines,” Booker said at a rally outside the court Monday.
