Senate Ag Committee Fails to Pass Farm Bill, as Legislators Spar on E15 Inclusion
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry failed as expected to pass the pending farm bill ahead of the August recess on Thursday, as legislators during the markup sparred over the prospects of the current E15 package within that bill.
Following several hours of debate, the committee failed to pass the package on a 10-11 vote that split along party lines.
The markup comes after the committee unveiled its draft for the farm bill late last week that included a revised version of the standalone E15 bill, dubbed the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025, that passed the House of Representatives in May.
But that revision, which, among other changes, shifted the standalone’s language on whether or not to reallocate volumes waived under small refinery exemptions (SRE) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) back to non-exempt parties, has confounded the voting outlook for the measure.
Notably, the altered language within the Senate draft drew a statement from the American Petroleum Institute (API) – long an important group in negotiations on the Hill over E15 – this week urging for its rejection and potential revision.
And concerns over that language bled into Thursday’s committee markup, as Democrat Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota moved to introduce a different E15 package to the bill that “would basically be a lot simpler.”
Smith said the amendment, which is just a pure E15 certification without any provisions on the SRE program, would reduce the cost of the package by roughly $2 billion.
That estimate roughly falls in line with a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this spring, which found that inclusion of the E15 package that later passed as a standalone measure would have resulted in a net increased deficit impact for the farm package of $2.3 billion over a decade.
That estimate later led to the package being cleaved from the farm bill before it eventually passed through the House, but it is unclear at this time whether the CBO’s analysis would also roughly align with the altered structure of those SRE provisions in the Senate draft.
Smith was supported in that effort by fellow Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who said that she supports both versions of the E15 package but would prefer a version that solely changes the Clean Air Act (CAA) language without impacts to the SRE program.
Under the CAA, E15 is prohibited for use from June 1 to Sept. 15 in most parts of the country due to smog concerns.
Both senators were rebuffed moments later by Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, who said the effort from Smith was “disingenuous” as it did not have the votes to pass the Senate.
“We have tried a [direct E15 bill] before,” Fischer said. “It has become nothing more than a messaging bill.”
“Our farmers do not need another messaging exercise,” Fischer continued. “They need to have real action… and they need to see some real results on this.”
Fischer said the process over the past decade of trying to pass a bill certifying E15 for year-round use has required tough conversations about “what it would take to build support for this, to make sure that we can get a bill through both chambers and then signed into law.”
And she said that process has thus far made progress by bringing “key colleagues” such as Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman Shelly-Moore Capito of West Virginia into the fold on the effort to certify the blend.
“That is how we make progress,” Fischer continued, “Not by offering amendments that we know won’t pass.”
Smith immediately pushed back on allegations that her attempt at bringing forth a pure E15 bill was for show.
“You could say that this entire process has been disingenuous, because it was clear from the start that the farm bill as put forward by this committee does not have the votes to pass,” Smith said.
Smith’s amendment ultimately failed to make its way into the farm package, which was itself voted down along party lines as expected due in part to Democrats’ concerns over the package’s impact on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Passage of the farm package out of the agriculture committee has been deemed unlikely for weeks now amid the ongoing absences of Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Though McConnell voted on amendments by proxy in Thursday’s mark-up and announced on Friday that he has been discharged from the hospital, the senator has not offered a direct timetable yet for his return to Congress.
The farm bill package thus failed this week on a vote of 10-11 along party lines, as Republicans were unable to convince any Democrats to cross the aisle and vote in support of the package.
The Senate is set for recess this Friday that will run through Sept. 14. Reassembly of the legislature mid-month will also coincide with the closing window on Sept. 15 for the federal government’s prohibition on blending of E15 in most parts of the country during the summer.
The blend has been permitted for use this summer under yet another series of emergency waivers from the federal government issued due to concerns over fuel supply. Those waivers, which are issued under 20-day increments, have now been offered the past five summers.
Reporting by Patrick Newkumet, pnewkumet@opisnet.com; Editing by Jordan Godwin, jgodwin@opisnet.com