House Ag Committee Chair Glenn GT Thompson received support and encouragement from colleagues, as word spread of his recent diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Thompson made no mention of his illness as he opened a ‘Members’ Day’ hearing on the farm bill, but others did. Don Davis of North Carolina, sitting in for Ranking Democrat David Scott, offered support for Chairman Thompson in his fight with prostate cancer amid the continuing battle to do a new farm bill. Davis said, “We wish you the speediest recovery (thank you)…and that, we’re praying for you, a person that often opens us up with prayer—we’re going to lead prayer for you.”
Thompson issued an earlier statement that he’s a “person of faith” and an “eternal optimist” and will tackle his illness “head on.” The Pennsylvania Republican will do so, as the House GOP and Senate Democrats continue to fight about spending and policy bills.
Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray told reporters this week House Speaker Mike Johnson now proposes a year-long stopgap continuing resolution instead of separate agency spending bills.
Murray says, “That is a non-starter, and I’ll have more to say on that, but it’s deeply dangerous. It would lock in outdated spending plans, and devastating across-the-board cuts, with no rhyme or reason and completely lock Congress out of any kind of thoughtful decision-making process for our nation’s budget.”
Speaker Johnson, until recently, refused to do another stopgap spending bill to follow two-pending shutdown deadlines in January and February, and more possible farm bill time constraints. But Johnson’s push to complete individual spending bills ran into trouble when some House GOP hardliners backed off demands for big cuts after they and others torpedoed a handful of measures including for USDA.