The loss of the House by Republicans is being felt already….
In the White House Oval Office and in the votes in Congress…
Congress on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a five-year farm bill after removing conservative priorities that had stalled negotiations, including stricter work requirements for people receiving food benefits and a provision allowing more tree-cutting in federal forests as President Trump proposed in the wake of California’s wildfires.
The sweeping $867-billion bill, a compromise between the House and Senate after a months-long impasse, addresses agriculture, nutrition, forest and conservation policy. The Senate passed it 87 to 13 Tuesday night. With House passage on Wednesday, 369 to 47, the measure goes to the president for his signature.
Though Trump had called the work requirements for food aid an “imperative,” he signaled this week he would sign the bill. He and lawmakers were anxious to reauthorize the twice-a-decade farm law, which had expired Sept. 30, before Congress adjourned at the end of the year.
The final bill does not include House Republicans’ controversial work requirements for able-bodied people receiving assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, or food stamps. Also dropped were eligibility changes that could have cut benefits to millions. Those were seen as a major barrier to the bill’s passage in the Senate.
House Republicans lost their negotiating leverage by losing the party’s majority in November’s elections. They had to concede to help Senate Republicans get the support of the handful of Democrats needed to reach the Senate’s 60-vote threshold…..
Note…
The same political reckoning for Republicans is gonna apply for the remaining budget legislation for 2019….