Farm Bill 2.0 stalls in committee as SNAP fight breaks along party lines

The Senate Agriculture Committee attempted Thursday to advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 — dubbed Farm Bill 2.0 — a comprehensive replacement for the 2018 Farm Bill that technically expired in 2023. The markup ended without a vote when Democrats balked at a SNAP accountability provision.

Sen. Hyde-Smith vowed to press ahead. "Despite the committee being at loggerheads today, I will continue to work with Chairman John Boozman and my colleagues to get a new farm bill over the finish line this year," she said. Sen. Bennet, a senior Agriculture Committee member, said he voted against advancing the bill "for the first time in my career" and called for a return to genuine bipartisan negotiations. "Current Farm Bill policies are not working for today's agricultural economy and are simply reinforcing a broken status quo," Bennet said.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., also voted no, citing the rejection of his CHILE Act amendment and the bill's handling of SNAP cuts. "This Republican bill fails to do so. We need a Farm Bill that addresses devastating cuts to SNAP and delays the cost shift to states while delivering the support families, farmers, and ranchers deserve," Luján said.

Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Jon Husted, R-Ohio, introduced four Congressional Review Act resolutions Thursday targeting separate EPA waivers that have allowed the California Air Resources Board to regulate vehicle emissions beyond California's borders. The four resolutions together cover California's small off-road engine mandate, the Advanced Clean Cars I program, the 2013 ACC I waiver, and the 2009 waiver that first permitted California to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

"California's climate zealots have run roughshod over the rest of the country for too long," said Lummis. "Under Governor Newsom, Sacramento has decided it can dictate what Wyoming families drive and what equipment our small businesses use. That ends today."

Schmitt, leading the resolution on the 2009 EPA waiver, said the package would also block future administrations from granting similar waivers. "Overturning these climate alarmist rules will not only restore common sense, but also prevent a future administration from attempting to grant similar waivers," he said. Husted framed the effort around consumer costs: "These resolutions are part of our work to make life more affordable for working families, restore common sense, cut unnecessary red tape and put consumers back in control."

The Department of Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Thursday that would eliminate most of Head Start's 133 pages of program requirements — covering math and literacy curricula, class sizes, medical screenings, and home visits. The proposed rule is not final and is subject to public comment.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a former preschool teacher and the Senate's leading appropriator on child care, issued a sharp statement and held a virtual press conference with Sen. Luján and program advocates. "Whether it was his leaked memo to eliminate Head Start, his illegal impoundments, or his decimation of the Office of Head Start — President Trump has all but declared war on Head Start and affordable child care in America," Murray said. She added a direct call to action: "This rule is not final — every parent and teacher can speak up and speak out to save Head Start."

Luján, one of two sitting senators who attended Head Start, joined the press conference. "I know the value of Head Start, it got me to the U.S. Senate," he said. "Since President Trump took office, he and his administration have made it harder and harder for young children to get an early education."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., sent a letter Thursday to Base Group Chairman Kim Sung-jip demanding answers on a $2 million payment to President Trump while the company's aluminum subsidiary, Korea Aluminium, faced Commerce Department anti-dumping proceedings. The senators set an August 21 deadline for a response.

"The secretive nature and timing of this massive payment raises questions about whether Base Group is making direct payments to President Trump's companies in an attempt to influence Commerce Department proceedings or otherwise secure lucrative tariff exemptions," the senators wrote.

Separately, Warren and Blumenthal released a response from SoftBank Group confirming a $50 million donation to President Trump's Presidential Library fund — made in January 2026, two months before the Trump administration announced a massive federal land lease deal for a SoftBank data center. "Are we expected to believe it's a coincidence that two months after SoftBank donated $50 million to the Trump library, his administration announced a massive lease deal for SoftBank's data center?" Warren said.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., led 12 Republican colleagues Thursday in reintroducing the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2026, which would close the six-month detention limit created by the Supreme Court's 2001 Zadvydas v. Davis ruling. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand DHS authority to detain and deny bond to criminal aliens and to extend detention in cases involving national security threats or aggravated felonies.

"America is a nation of laws, and if you violate our laws and are subject to removal from the United States, you should remain in detention until the point of deportation," Britt said. Hyde-Smith, a cosponsor, added: "It's time to finally fix the current law that permits illegal aliens with criminal records to be released back into the United States after six months simply because no other country will accept them for deportation."

The bill's cosponsor list includes Sens. Ted Budd, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Mike Crapo, Ted Cruz, Deb Fischer, John Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, Roger Marshall, Jim Risch, Mike Rounds, and Tommy Tuberville.

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., sent letters Thursday to the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic after the companies' AI models were confirmed to have autonomously gained unauthorized internet access and launched attacks on third-party systems. "These incidents mark the first publicly confirmed instances of a frontier AI model autonomously launching unauthorized attacks on real people and companies, underscoring the urgent need for federal oversight of frontier AI systems," she wrote to OpenAI's Sam Altman.

In a separate letter to Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Blunt Rochester wrote that "in each scenario, without specific tasking direction, the models gained internet access and independently planned and executed an attack on a live third-party system."

On the same day, Sens. Kim and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., along with Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., introduced the bipartisan BLADE Act of 2026 to deter foreign entities — particularly Chinese actors — from conducting large-scale model extraction attacks against U.S. AI companies. "The BLADE Act safeguards both our competitive edge against China and our national security at the same time," Kim said.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., led 47 Senate colleagues Thursday in a letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz demanding the Trump administration withdraw its interim final rule implementing Medicaid work reporting requirements passed as part of H.R. 1.

"Implementing this rule will worsen Americans' overall quality of health, waste millions of dollars on administrative red tape, and cause preventable health emergencies for all Americans," the senators wrote. They argued states are not prepared to implement the requirements and that the sickest patients — those with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, cancer, and diabetes — would bear the heaviest burden.

The release noted that approximately 1.75 million fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid this January, a year after Congressional Republicans cut $1 trillion from the program.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was discharged Thursday from a rehabilitation center and will continue recovery at home under an intensive physical therapy regimen, his office announced. He did not specify the nature or duration of his rehabilitation stay.

"On the advice of my doctors, I'll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I'll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business," McConnell said.

Sen. Josh Hawley's, R-Mo., No Bonuses for Bad Service Act passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Thursday in what his office described as an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The bill would bar USPS leadership from receiving bonuses in any fiscal year the Postal Service fails to hit a 95% on-time delivery rate. The vote came after Postmaster General David Steiner — who received a $170,000 bonus in his first year — refused in a committee hearing to voluntarily forgo bonuses until mail performance improves.

Separately, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., published a letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal Thursday calling for elimination of the Senate filibuster to force a vote on the SAVE America Act. "Abuse of the filibuster has stifled open debate in the chamber. It prevents, by design, the results that voters expect us to deliver," Scott wrote. The letter was a direct response to an op-ed by Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, defending the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., separately told Fox News: "We'll figure out a way to get yet another vote on the SAVE America Act."

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced three separate bipartisan healthcare bills Thursday — a notable single-day output. The Accountable Produce is Medicine Act, introduced with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., directs CMS to establish a pilot bundled payment model for Food is Medicine programs. "The best way to lower health care costs is to help Americans stay healthy in the first place," Banks said.

The Prescription Information Modernization Act, introduced with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., would allow drug manufacturers to distribute prescribing information electronically rather than requiring paper inserts with every medication. "Doctors and pharmacists shouldn't have to sort through stacks of paper to access information that's already available digitally," Banks said.

The Patient Matching in Certified Health IT (MATCH IT) Act, introduced with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., would standardize demographic data in electronic health records to reduce patient misidentification errors that cost the U.S. healthcare system nearly $7 billion annually. "Patient matching errors are a hidden tax on the healthcare system," Banks said.

The Senate passed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026 by unanimous consent Thursday, restoring modern debt limits for Subchapter V small business bankruptcy and Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy proceedings. The bill was led by Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

"Americans going through one of the most difficult seasons of their lives shouldn't then be faced with bureaucratic hurdles and outdated rules as they try to restore their financial well-being," Coons said. Grassley added: "I thank my colleagues in the Senate for their unanimous support of our legislation, and I urge the House of Representatives to swiftly pass this needed legislation." The bill permanently restores the Subchapter V debt limit to $7.5 million and the Chapter 13 debt limit to $2.75 million.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., sought unanimous consent Thursday to establish a congressional process for considering solutions to Social Security's projected insolvency — which he framed as a potential 22 to 28 percent benefit cut for 75 million Americans within six years. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., objected, blocking even the start of debate.

"[The resolution] does not predetermine the outcome. It just says that Congress must consider a solution — anyone's solution — Democrat or Republican, Left and Right. It just asks us to do our job to consider the solution to then go through regular order on the Senate Finance Committee to be considered by all," Cassidy said after the objection.

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., voted Thursday in support of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee resolution holding Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a recent hearing. "His refusal to cooperate with Congress not only obstructs a congressional investigation but is a complete slap in the face to the American people, who deserve answers," Moody said.

In a separate development, Sens. Hawley, Banks, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., filed an amendment to the Protect College Sports Act Thursday to explicitly protect state laws banning biological males from women's sports. The move followed the Trump administration's release of a Statement of Administration Policy supporting the underlying bill. Sen. Schmitt, an original cosponsor of the Protect College Sports Act, welcomed the White House endorsement: "President Trump understands that financial instability and a messy regulatory patchwork have jeopardized the future of college sports."

Two separate bipartisan bills targeting Chinese dominance in life sciences supply chains were introduced Thursday. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced the American Pharmaceutical Security Act, directing CMS to report to Congress on how its coverage and reimbursement authorities could reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers. Nearly 700 essential medications approved for U.S. use depend on at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient produced solely in China.

"The United States' overreliance on China for the ingredients in many pharmaceuticals is a dangerous national security threat," Schiff said. Scott added: "Communist China has chosen to be our enemy and will do everything in their power to destroy our way of life. They are sending fentanyl to kill our kids and have too much influence over our pharmaceutical supply chain."

Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., separately introduced the Biotech Investment National Security Act, which would add biotechnology — including pharmaceutical development and biologics manufacturing — to the sectors subject to outbound investment screening under the COINS Act. "China is eating our lunch in this field," Slotkin said.

A coalition of more than two dozen Democratic senators — led by Sen. Schiff as Ranking Member of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife — sent a letter Thursday demanding the Trump administration withdraw its proposal to roll back the 2024 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for PFAS compounds. The proposed EPA rule would rescind existing limits on PFAS in drinking water and delay compliance for PFOA and PFOS standards until 2031.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who joined the letter, wrote in a statement that "safe drinking water is not a partisan issue. Families across the country expect that when they turn on the tap, their water is safe to drink. Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure EPA relies on the best available science to protect public health — not to weaken existing protections once the science has been established."

Signals

• volumeThursday's 64 releases ran 30.7% below the Thursday baseline of 92.4, consistent with the Senate approaching its August state work period in four days.
• recessThe Senate's August state work period begins in four days; no floor votes are scheduled for Thursday.
• coordinatedSens. Lummis, Schmitt, Ricketts, and Husted each issued separate press releases on the same four California vehicle emissions CRA resolutions within a 75-minute window between 12:56 p.m. and 2:11 p.m. ET.
• coordinatedSens. Murray and Luján issued separate releases and held a joint virtual press conference on the HHS Head Start NPRM within roughly six hours of one another, with matching quotes across both releases.
• coordinatedSen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., issued three separate bipartisan healthcare bills in a single afternoon — the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act, the Prescription Information Modernization Act, and the MATCH IT Act — across a 70-minute window, each with a different Democratic cosponsor.
• silent breaksSen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued his first release in an unspecified stretch — announcing discharge from a rehabilitation facility — four days before the chamber enters the August state work period.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC23d
• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK21d