The House Agriculture Committee is undergoing a wholesale overhaul with a new roster that is heavy with first-term lawmakers and significantly more diverse than what the panel had when heading into previous farm bill debates.
The committee will have 52 members, only 14 of whom were on the panel when the 2018 farm bill was written. And the roster includes 11 Democrats and nine Republicans who are serving their first terms in Congress, and Democrats still have three slots to fill.
The committee includes several farmers, one of whom unsuccessfully fought the government over violations of the Clean Water Act; a food industry labor leader; a former state legislator who led a successful effort to mandate overtime pay for farmworkers; a daughter of illegal immigrants; a labor union adviser; civil rights attorney; CIA analyst; an activist who helped tenants block evictions; a former TV anchor, and a former TV weather forecaster.
The committee members also bring some sharp ideological differences.
Seven of the committee’s Democrats are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including freshman Greg Casar, who is the new CPC whip. Three of the other seven CPC members also are first-termers – Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois and Andrea Salinas of Oregon.
On the other hand, three of the committee’s Republican members were endorsed by the Club for Growth, a group that has backed many of the hard-line conservatives that held up Kevin McCarthy’s election to be House Speaker in return for commitments for budget cuts and concessions on committee seats and procedure. They are Max Miller, a freshman of Ohio, Mary Miller of Illinois and Barry Moore of Alabama.
Another addition to the committee, Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, was one of 16 members of the conservative Repblican Study Committee that proposed reductions in farm bill programs.
There is only one member left of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, once a bastion of House Ag Democrats: Jim Costa of California.
The committee members who are veterans of the 2018 farm bill are Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa.; Frank Lucas, R-Okla. (who is technically new to the committee since he is returning to the panel after a four-year break following House Democrats reclaiming the majority in the 2018 midterms); Austin Scott, R-Ga.; Rick Crawford, R-Ark.; Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.; Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Trent Kelly, R-Miss.; Don Bacon, R-Neb.; ranking member David Scott, D-Ga.; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Alma Adams, D-N.C.; and Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I.