Senate Agriculture Committee rejects farm bill in 10-11 vote over SNAP cost-sharing dispute

The Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance a new five-year Farm Bill on August 6, 2026, in a 10-11 party-line vote. The defeat was driven by a unified Democratic rebellion over a Republican proposal to delay state cost-sharing penalties for SNAP error rates by only one year, rather than the two years demanded by Democrats. The vote was further doomed by the absences of Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Tommy Tuberville, which left the GOP short of a majority. The committee has recessed until September, leaving the future of the bill and key provisions like year-round E15 sales highly uncertain.

Committee vote failure

• ▪The committee vote on the Farm Bill failed along party lines, with all 11 Democratic members voting against advancing the legislation.
• ▪Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman recessed the committee indefinitely following the failed vote, keeping discussions open until lawmakers return in September 2026.
• ▪The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry voted 10-11 on August 6, 2026, failing to advance the five-year omnibus Farm Bill out of committee.

SNAP cost-sharing dispute

• ▪Senate Democrats rejected the Republican proposal, demanding a two-year delay and opposing provisions that allow states with the highest SNAP error rates to delay payments longer than mid-error states.
• ▪Senator Amy Klobuchar argued the SNAP cost-sharing formula is unfair because high-error states like Alaska would avoid penalties for two years, while mid-error states like Minnesota would face immediate costs.
• ▪Senate Republicans proposed a one-year delay to the SNAP cost-sharing requirements, pushing the start date to fiscal year 2029 for most states and fiscal year 2030 for high-error states.
• ▪Under the 2025 reconciliation law, states with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) error rates above 6% must pay 5% to 20% of benefit costs starting in fiscal year 2028.

Republican member absences

• ▪Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was absent from the August 6, 2026 committee markup as he continued to recover from a fall suffered in June.
• ▪Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama was absent during the final minutes of the committee meeting when the final vote on the Farm Bill was called.
• ▪Because committee rules do not allow proxy votes to count toward advancing a bill, the absences of Mitch McConnell and Tommy Tuberville left Senate Republicans short of a majority.

Partisan blame over defeat

• ▪Democratic Senator Cory Booker criticized the committee markup as 'Kabuki theater,' stating that members knew beforehand that the session would end in a partisan deadlock over SNAP.
• ▪Republican Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts criticized Democrats, accusing them of playing politics and turning their backs on farmers by voting against the Farm Bill.

Farm bill policy provisions

• ▪The Senate version of the Farm Bill reincorporated legislation to allow the year-round sale of 15% ethanol gasoline (E15), which had been detached as a standalone bill by the House.
• ▪The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a manager's amendment package containing 34 bipartisan amendments and voted 16-7 to reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.