Ag Policy Blog

A group of 43 Republican senators over the weekend wrote a letter stating they were united behind the House Republican push for "spending cuts and structural budget reform as a starting point for negotiations on the debt ceiling."

The Republican senators stated in their three-paragraph letter to Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that they would not vote for cloture on any bill that raises the debt ceiling "without substantive spending and budget reforms."

The full letter was three paragraphs long and offered no details on exactly where Senate Republicans would support cuts to domestic programs. Instead, the GOP letter highlighted that the national debt and budget deficit is straining the U.S. economy.

"Our economy is in free fall due to unsustainable fiscal policies. This trajectory must be addressed with fiscal reforms. Moreover, recent Treasury projections have reinforced the urgency of addressing the debt ceiling. The House has taken a responsible first step in coming to the table with their proposals. It is imperative that the president now do the same."

Democrats, led by the White House and Biden administration, have warned instead about the risks to the economy if the GOP continues to hold the debt ceiling vote to demands for budget cuts.

President Joe Biden is expected to meet with congressional leaders sometime this week to attempt to avoid the budget impasse.

The House bill would cut spending by $4.8 trillion over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The House plan passed by two votes last month, reflecting the tight margins in both chambers.

Tied to the debt ceiling and spending debate are plans to draft a new farm bill, in which every commodity group has asked for a raise in reference prices and groups want higher spending on nearly every title of the farm bill, which is scored to cost about $1.5 trillion over ten years. More than 400 farm groups and others wrote congressional budget leaders earlier this spring asking for more funds to draft the farm bill.

The full GOP letter and senators who signed on to it can be found at https://www.lee.senate.gov/…

Also see,

"Ag Lenders See Tighter Credit Tied to Regional Bank Collapses,"

https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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