Politically, last November’s election flipped the House for Republicans but left the Senate in control of Democrats. With a 2023 Farm Bill under development, the split Congress could impact both the path and provisions impacting federal dairy policy and programs.
In this issue, Progressive Dairy takes a look at the makeup of the 118th Congress, listing the leaders and members of House and Senate committees and subcommittees wielding the power to have the greatest impact on dairy. In addition to agricultural committees in the Senate and House, other congressional committees with the most direct influence of policies affecting dairy and agriculture include appropriations (funding), judiciary (immigration and antitrust) and trade (exports). Committees focused on transportation and infrastructure, natural resources, energy will have a say, too.
1. AGRICULTURE
Senate
Democrats gained a slight majority in the Senate, with leadership of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee unchanged from the previous session. Chair and top Democrat is Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan); top Republican and ranking member is Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas).
The Senate Ag Committee is made up of 12 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Democrats have 10 returning members and two new members. Notably absent is longtime committee member Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), who retired. All Republican Senate Ag Committee members are returning.
The Senate Ag Committee subcommittees each have six Democrats and five Republicans. Subcommittees with the most direct impact on dairy include Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems and Food Safety and Security, led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), chair, and Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), ranking member; and Commodities, Risk Management and Trade, led by Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), chair, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), ranking member.
Dairy state representation: Just 13 of 24 major dairy states have representation on the Senate Ag Committee. Especially notable in their absence are senators from five of the largest dairy states, California, Idaho, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.
House
With Republicans taking over the majority in the House, Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) and Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) flip positions as Agriculture Committee chair and ranking member, respectively.
The new House Ag Committee is made up of 29 Republicans and 24 Democrats. Republicans have 12 new members and 17 returning members; Democrats have 15 new members and nine returning members.
In addition to full ag committee leadership, there has been changes in House ag subcommittee oversight, with potential impact on dairy:
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Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry. Rep. Tracy Mann (R-Kansas) serves as chair; Rep. Jim Costa (D-California) is ranking member.
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Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management and Credit. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia) serves as chair; Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) serves as ranking member.
- Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota) serves as chair; Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colorado) is ranking member.
Dairy state representation: 20 of 24 major dairy states have representation on the House Ag Committee. Those without representation are Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Vermont.
2. APPROPRIATIONS
Senate
The Senate Appropriations Committee allocates federal funds to the numerous government agencies, departments and organizations on an annual basis. It is led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), chair, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), ranking member.
Twelve subcommittees are tasked with drafting legislation to allocate funds to government agencies within their jurisdictions. Among them is the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee. That subcommittee has seven Democrats and six Republicans, led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), chair, and Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), ranking member.
House
The House Appropriations Committee is made up of 35 Republicans and 27 Democrats and is led by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), chair, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), ranking member.
The Ag, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration Subcommittee oversees spending for the USDA (except Forest Service), the Farm Credit Administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. That subcommittee is made up of nine Republicans and six Democrats and led by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chair, and Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Georgia), ranking member.
3a IMMIGRATION
Judiciary committees within the Senate and House oversee issues related to immigration and border security.
Senate
In the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary has 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans and is led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), chair, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), ranking member. The Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety includes seven Democrats and six Republicans and is led by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), chair, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), ranking member.
House
The House Judiciary Committee is led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), ranking member. There are 25 Republicans and 19 Democrats.
The Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement has jurisdiction over immigration and naturalization, border security, non-border enforcement and other issues. There are 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, led by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California), chair, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), ranking member.
3b ANTITRUST
Senate
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) is the lead Democrat and chair on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Sen. Michael Lee (R-Utah) is the ranking member. There are seven Democrats and five Republicans.
House
Within the House Judiciary Committee, the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust oversees state taxation affecting judgeships, administrative law, state taxation affecting interstate commerce, interstate compacts and antitrust matters.
That subcommittee is made up of 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats and is led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), chair, and Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), ranking member.
4. TRADE
In general, agricultural trade oversight falls under the financial committees within the Senate and House.
Senate
The Senate’s Committee on Finance has 14 Democrats and 13 Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), chair, and Sen. Mike Crapo, (R-Idaho), ranking member. The Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, with 10 Democrats and nine Republicans. It is led by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Delaware), chair, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), ranking member.
House
In the House, the Ways and Means Committee has 11 Republicans and seven Democrats and is led by Adrian Smith (R-Nebraska), chair, and Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), ranking member.
In most cases, committee leaders of each party serve as ex-officio members of all subcommittees they oversee.
CONGRESSIONAL
DAIRY FARMER CAUCUS
Outside of the formal Senate and House committees and subcommittees, the Congressional Dairy Farmer Caucus is a bipartisan group dedicated to educating other members of Congress and building political consensus on the importance of the dairy industry to the nation’s economy. While it’s called the Congressional Dairy Farmer Caucus, it is made up of only House members. Members can continue to be added throughout the Congress. As of Progressive Dairy’s deadline in mid-March, membership of the caucus had not been named.
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