OMAHA (DTN) -- Less than a day after details were released, the entire funding bill for the federal government -- and nearly $31 billion in disaster and economic aid to farmers -- appeared to fall apart Wednesday because President-elect Donald Trump, Vice-President-elect JD Vance and their adviser, Elon Musk, all want to kill the overall bill.
In a statement, Trump and Vance said, "Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country.
They added, "Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief.
"THIS CHAOS WOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IF WE HAD A REAL PRESIDENT. WE WILL IN 32 DAYS!"
The current funding bill expires at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, raising the likelihood there will be a government shutdown unless some immediate actions are taken.
As agricultural economists and accountants were crunching numbers on economic aid payments to farmers, Republicans took to social media and conservative news outlets to bash the bill. The Freedom Caucus described the whole bill as a "cramnibus." The group of lawmakers complained the bill has $100 billion in spending without offsets that was negotiated behind closed doors. The Freedom Caucus wanted votes on specific provisions, including a vote on the "DOGE Act" that would cut all non-Defense spending 13% to pre-COVID 2019 levels.
DOGE is the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are expected to lead in the Trump administration.
Before the statement from Trump and Vance, Musk also laid into the bill on X, the social platform he owns, with posts throughout the day. "Actions matter, sweet talk is irrelevant. Kill the Bill." He added, "One of the worst bills ever written." Musk also reposted tweets from GOP lawmakers opposed to the bill.
Earlier he noted, "Any member of the House or Senate who votes on this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!"
Later Musk added, "Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed!"
By midafternoon Wednesday, political news outlets on Capitol Hill were reporting that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was looking to drop much of the disaster aid and pass a more stripped-down continuing resolution, or a "clean CR."
The House Rules Committee, which lays down the rules for floor debates on bills, still had not scheduled a hearing on the CR.
House Agriculture Committee Republicans on X posted, "America's farmers aren't a political football -- they're the backbone of our nation. They feed, clothe, and fuel us every day."
House Agriculture Committee Democrats on X also posted, "President-elect Trump delivers on his promise to fight for rural America by undermining a CR that extends the farm bill and provides tens of billions of dollars to farmers struggling to stay afloat."
Without some of the provisions negotiated by Democrats, they are unlikely to back the bill. Johnson could not afford to lose any Republicans on a bill if Democrats balked at the unilateral changes.
Johnson, however, could lose his speakership in the next Congress if he bucks his conservative members.
DETAILS OF CONTINUING RESOLUTION
The bill provides $20.78 billion to help producers with disaster losses over the past two years.
Another section of the bill spells out a formula to provide $10 billion in economic assistance through a formula laid out in the bill. The law would create one-time payments to producers.
Economists and accountants on Wednesday had varying numbers for the level of payments provided. DTN reached out to congressional staff to ask for clarifications on those numbers.
The breakdown for some major crops looks like this:
-- Corn, $43.80 per acre.
-- Soybeans, $30.61 per acre.
-- Wheat, $31.80 per acre.
-- Seed cotton, $84.70 per acre.
-- Sorghum, $41.85 per acre.
-- Rice, $71.37 per acre.
Those payments would be subject to $125,000 payment limits that could go up to $250,000 for producers who receive 75% or more of their gross income from farming.
The bill also provides an extension of the current farm bill through Sept. 30, 2025. That prevents permanent law from going into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. The "dairy cliff" is often mentioned as the biggest issue with permanent law. Under the law, USDA would be required to buy dairy products to help boost prices to the mandated levels of 117% higher than the current all-milk price. At current prices, around $22.80 per cwt, the mandated price for milk would jump to more than $49.43 per cwt. This would effectively drive private buyers of milk out of the market.
The E15 provision also was added into the bill that drew immediate praise from lawmakers in major ethanol-producing states.
AG GROUPS, OTHERS KEEP PRESSING FOR VOTES
While people clamored on social media, farm groups keep telling their members to back the bill. The National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association cited their support for the bill. The American Farm Bureau Federation stated that its members had sent nearly 13,000 messages to lawmakers, calling on them to pass a CR with economic aid to farmers.
"Congress must pass this CR to deliver assistance to America's farmers and ranchers at a time when they need it most," said Zippy Duvall, president of AFBF. "We are respectfully asking you to vote YEA on this CR to provide that assistance and pave the way for a new five-year farm bill that will have enhanced commodity and risk management programs to help farmers mitigate their risk in the future."
Brian Kuehl, director of government affairs for Pinion Global, said the package provides needed relief and disaster aid for farmers and includes a farm-bill extension, which is also needed. The CR was "pleasantly surprising" to see the support for agriculture in the bill.
"It just seems crazy. Here's a package that's really good for farmers," Kuehl said. "And to see the whole thing put into jeopardy by a tweet is just absurd."
Also see "Farmers to Get Nearly $31 Billion Amid Year-End Legislative Push" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN
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