WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD-TV) — Democrats have won control of Congress following the midterm elections, with major changes ahead for the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson will move into the minority when Democrats take control in January. With ranking member Angie Craig not returning to Congress, Democrats will elect a new committee chair after the new members are sworn in.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall also lost his reelection bid to Democrat Adam Hamilton, marking the first Democratic U.S. Senate victory in Kansas in nearly a century. Hamilton made agriculture a central part of his campaign, although it remains unclear whether he will seek a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Four Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee also lost their reelection bids: Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Monica De La Cruz of Texas, Zach Nunn of Iowa and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania.
Congress also has unfinished business before the current term ends, including the farm bill.
Texas A&M agricultural policy analyst Bart Fischer says lawmakers are considering what they can accomplish before the end of the year.
“What’s going to happen on Prop 12? What are we going to do on E15? So there’s some major issues that have to get addressed. I think there’s also a conversation playing out as well. Are there other things that we could be addressing here? As we get to the end of the year, knowing there’s also a conversation about yet another year of ad hoc, could we be making some more substantive changes? And so, all of that’s playing out right now. They’re exploring the art of the possible. All four corners are meeting and connecting and working those things out, and so to me, it’s very promising that they’re doing that.”
Fischer says a new farm bill is still possible this year. Lawmakers have until Jan. 3, when the current congressional term ends.
