The Senate is set to debate a popular bipartisan farm bill this week that senators from both parties are eager to pass amid the uncertainty in rural America over President Donald Trump’s trade policy.
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., teed up action on the bill by scheduling a cloture vote Monday evening to begin debate on the legislation, which the Agriculture Committee approved 20-1 last week.
 
Once the cloture vote passes Monday, as expected, senators can begin filing amendments to the bill, potentially setting up debates on crop insurance, commodity program payment limits and other issues.
 
Allies of the crop insurance industry have been lobbying key senators to block consideration of an amendment that would be sponsored by Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., to impose a means test on premium subsidies. A similar amendment was approved by the Senate in 2013 but was left out of the 2014 farm bill.
 
“Committee and leadership are definitely trying to limit amendments while at the same time not completely closing down the amendment process,” said an industry source. 
 
Getting the bill out of the Senate would set the stage for negotiations with the House on a final version. The House reconsidered and passed its much more partisan bill, 213-211, on Thursday. In stark contrast to the Senate, House Democrats were united in opposition to the bill, which failed in May when some conservatives demanded that the House first act on an immigration bill developed by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
 
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