Hunt Shipman, principal and director at Cornerstone Government Affairs, discussed the Farm Bill, China, nutrition programs and more in the Jan. 15 National Ag Law Center webinar.
By Drew Viguet
National Agricultural Law Center
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Jan. 17, 2025
Fast facts:
- Hunt Shipman presented NALC webinar on Jan. 15
- Webinar covered election impacts on ag law and policy
- Recording is available to watch online
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With the 119th U.S. Congress beginning and President Trump back in the White House, what developments and changes can the agricultural community expect going forward?
Hunt Shipman, principal and director of Cornerstone Government Affairs, shared his insights on what’s to come during the National Ag Law Center’s Jan. 15 webinar, “Looking Ahead: Impact of the 2024 Elections on Ag Law & Policy.”
“There’s a lot to talk about when we’re talking about the impacts of last November’s election on agriculture, agricultural law and policy,” he said.
Shipman covered details regarding the new makeup of Congress and the administration. Numerous shakeups look to influence the country’s agriculture sector, such as shifts in the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry. Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, previously ranking member of the committee, now serves as the chairman. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota now serves as ranking member.
According to Shipman, in the last Congress, more than 10,000 bills were introduced in the House and over 5,600 introduced in the Senate. Only 275 became law.
“And that’s a little misleading, because oftentimes bills are grouped together into a final package,” he said. “But it’s still indicative of the large volume of material that is introduced and the small amount that actually makes it to the president’s desk.
“And it’s also not surprising that there’s a lot of unfinished work. Obviously, we’ve got a Farm Bill that is hanging out there now. All of these bills will need to be reintroduced before they are taken up in the 119th Congress, which began on Jan. 3.”
Shipman also noted that appropriations bills were not completed last year, resulting in a continuing resolution, or temporary spending bill, which is in place until March 14.
“There will be need to either finish the appropriations bills, or to enact another continuing resolution,” he said. “Or we’ll find ourselves where we have been in the past with the potential for a government shutdown looming over our heads again.”
What’s ahead?
In the days, weeks and months ahead, the Senate will be confirming cabinet members.
“But as that process is unfolding in the Senate, on the House side of things, you’ve already seen committees begin their hearing work for the coming year,” Shipman said. “The budget reconciliation process has been a hot topic of discussion, both as a tool that the administration and Congress would like to use to claw back funding and reduce spending, but also to advance policy objectives such as border security.”
Shipman said he expects attempts to claw back Inflation Reduction Act funding in a number of areas, with energy being one. Nutrition programs will also be an area of discussion for reform and spending reduction.
“And we may see concern from the ag committee about whether any reconciliation instruction that they receive might make it more difficult for them to pass a Farm Bill,” Shipman said. “Because they may have eyes on some of those funds as ways to offset the needed increases in spending that have been identified in commodity and other places.”
“It may be possible that doing the nutrition parts of that in reconciliation might make it easier to pass a Farm Bill, because it takes that controversial topic away from the actual Farm Bill debate.”
Shipman also noted the procedural challenges that come with doing anything that is not directly related to spending in a reconciliation bill.
“So even if the spending parts of a Farm Bill are handled in the reconciliation process, there will be a need for us to do a parallel bill to address the policy-focused changes that may not have a direct dollar impact,” he said.
Ag Nominees
Brooke Rollins, currently the chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute, has been nominated by President Trump to serve as U.S. secretary of agriculture. Rollins worked in the previous Trump Administration as director of the Domestic Policy Council and assistant to the president for Strategic Initiatives.
In addition to Rollins, Trump has nominated Judge Stephen Vaden of the U.S. Court of International Trade to serve as the No. 2 position at U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, in the role of deputy secretary of agriculture.
While not formally nominated, Tyler Clarkson, who is vice president and deputy general counsel at Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., has been identified as the next USDA general counsel. Clarkson previously worked with Judge Vaden at USDA in the general counsel’s office during the previous Trump administration.
“As soon as we can see the hearing announced for secretary designate Rollins, that will probably open the gates for some additional names to be coming out,” Shipman said.
On Jan. 16, following the NALC webinar, the Senate Ag Committee scheduled the hearing for Rollins for Thursday, Jan. 23.
Farm Bill
Last year saw the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill, which had been extended a second time through the American Relief Act, signed on Dec. 21, 2024.
“We’ve got until Sept. 30 before the most recent extension of the Farm Bill expires,” Shipman said. “So, whether the Farm Bill is done in reconciliation or done standalone, we’ve got some time to deal with that.”
Shipman mentioned that Sen. Boozman has previously said, “We need more farm in the Farm Bill.”
“That’s certainly something I think we’ll see as his team rolls out their version of a Farm Bill hopefully early this year,” he said. “And we’ve certainly got new Democrats on the top committee positions in both the House and the Senate, which will be interesting to see how much they deviate from their predecessors’ positions as we look at a Farm Bill going forward.”
To read the full news release, click here.