Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry failed to advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 from committee due to unreasonable Democratic demands. House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) issued the following statement in response.
“On behalf of our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans, I am deeply disappointed in the results of today’s farm bill markup in the Senate Agriculture Committee,” Chairman Thompson said. “It is clear that Senate Democrats are not in search of real solutions for farm country. Even the inclusion of year-round E15, dozens of Democrat amendments, and a delay in the SNAP benefit cost share could not entice Senate Democrats to support producers and vote for the farm bill.
“Chairman Boozman and his team went above and beyond to accommodate requests from across the aisle, even including some compromises that we are not fully comfortable with in the House. Despite this, Democrats could not get to a yes.
“The work on a full, five-year farm bill does not end here. I will continue to find practical solutions for American producers that address modern needs, and I hope my colleagues across the aisle will come to their senses and join Chairman Boozman and me in supporting American agriculture.”
Committee members considered numerous amendments throughout the markup, but the bill fell short of the support needed to move forward after lawmakers remained divided over several key provisions, particularly changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The committee is expected to continue work on the legislation when Congress returns from its August recess.
Although the bill did not advance, the day’s debate highlighted broad agreement on many agricultural priorities, including strengthening the farm safety net, improving crop insurance programs, supporting conservation efforts, and expanding market opportunities for producers. However, disagreements over nutrition policy prevented the committee from reaching a bipartisan consensus. The House has already passed its version of the Farm Bill, meaning the Senate must still approve its own bill before the two chambers can negotiate a final package to send to the president.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman expressed frustration after the bill failed to advance, arguing the debate centered on state administration of SNAP rather than benefits for recipients. “This is really not about SNAP recipients; this is about allowing states to continue making error rates that are unimaginable. They’re off the chart, and there’s no reason we can’t help them and get them straight in a year. We are holding hostage the people we are charged to help; again, this is not about SNAP recipients; this is about the states with very, very high error rates. We’re holding hostage our farm community, and when you take livestock out of it, this is one of the poorest industries right now in America, and it’s not just farmers and ranchers; it’s rural America, and we’re charged to help them, but right now we’re not able to do that because of this.
