Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, spoke with the Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Ethan Lane about what needs to happen in the lame duck session. In yesterday’s BeefBuzz, they talked about the impacts of Trump’s popular vote on the cattle industry.
Hays explained that, in congressional terms, a lame duck session is the period of time between the November election and the reorganization of congress in early January of the next year. Lane listed the unfinished items of business as the farm bill,
“If I am a Democrat in the House or Senate, my prospects for a reasonable farm bill don’t get better next year,” Lane said. “They were steadfastly refusing to talk about anything to do with G.T. Thompson’s bill up until now, but I would be shocked if there wasn’t just a little more interest in a lame duck conversation on getting that bill moved.”
Lane admitted that he isn’t sure if there is enough bandwidth to get that done in the lame duck session, but the resolutions of leadership changes, such as Senator John Thune’s election as Senate Majority Leader, clears things up for greater progress of such issues.
Conversely, Republicans, who now hold the majority, are going to be looking at all of the possibilities they will have through control of both houses of congress for the next two years.
“I anticipate this now being a less tumultuous lame duck,” Lane said. “Even as far as days on the calendar. Congressional Review Act action is now possible. We haven’t seen that since 2016, when Trump came in. That is based on sixty legislative days from the time when regulation is promulgated, which means, if they gavel out early, that puts more days back on the clock and sends that back into last Spring a few extra days. All of that is now going to have to be factored in to how we use this time over the next few weeks in lame duck before they gavel out and go home for Christmas.”
The bipartisan ag sector is now united behind the farm bill that they all support and are anxious to get it through and finished.
“G.T. Thompson has done phenomenal work here. Let’s take advantage of it, and put this thing to bed,” Lane encouraged. Hays and Lane detailed the possibility of Thompson becoming the next Secretary of Agriculture, an appointment which Lane fully supports. Click the soundbar above to hear the complete conversation.
Lane said that priorities for 2025 will be encompassed by a strong desire to show productivity from the Republican majority in the House and Senate.
“On the minds of a lot of farmers and ranchers around the country are going to be those tax provisions that expire at the end of 2025,” he commented. “There have been conversations about if this day were to come, what does it look like to get that tax package renewed early in the 119th Congress, whether that be through budget reconciliation or something else. I think that has to be bubbling to the top of everybody’s priority list very quickly. There’s no need to let that one go to the end of the year. Time kills all deals, in my opinion, and this one wouldn’t be any different.”
He believes that there will be a lot of interest in the Congressional Review Act within the first few weeks of the new Congress. As far as the Senate goes, they will have their hands full with 1,200 new congressional confirmations and 2,800 new appointees. The renewal of government funding will also be a high priority early in the year as it expires on December 20, 2024.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
