The Senate Agriculture Committee met again Wednesday for the first time in over a month to re-vote on the Agriculture Act of 2026 – the farm bill, including E15 – and pass it along party lines by a vote of 12 to 11. Republicans prevailed on the vote this time with the presence of both Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Tom Tuberville (R-AL) who were absent during the last meeting.
As he opened the meeting, Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) called for a vote immediately without any discussion and was surprised by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) bringing up an amendment she wanted to make to Title 12 of the bill that would protect livestock producers from state legislation like California’s Proposition 12. “I didn’t expect this,” said Boozman, as Sen. Ernst repeatedly called for a ruling from the chair. “It was a timely amendment. It is not out of order,” said Ernst. Ultimately, both Ernst and fellow Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley voted in favor of reporting the bill out of committee, despite their differences with the chairman.
Listen to the committee meeting proceedings here:
Senate ag committee farm bill vote 40:14