The House voted 370-48 on Tuesday to pass a short-term funding bill. Nineteen Republicans and 29 Democrats voted no, and 14 members did not vote. The measure is the Senate’s version of a continuing resolution that funds the government through Dec. 11, which heads off a shutdown when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The president is expected to sign it.
Almost as soon as it cleared, some farm-state Republicans turned to a different fight. They want President Donald Trump to rethink a beef import policy that ranchers say undercuts American producers. The expanded imports began Sept. 1, and Republican objections have had little effect so far.
Nunn takes ranchers’ case to the White House
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and other House Republicans are going to the White House this week. They timed the visit “intentionally,” ahead of end-of-week meat processing decisions.
“I’m going to give him the feedback. My ranchers asked me to provide it to the president. I think he needs to hear that,” Nunn told DTN on Tuesday. “If you’re going to do something America First, it better start with America’s growers and particularly our ranchers.”
Many Republicans still support Trump but have broken with him on beef. Nunn is still giving the administration room. “You can’t fault the guys for trying to find a pathway,” he said.
Another Midwestern member of Congress, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said ranchers are irritated because the policy suggests the president wants to make beef prices a central campaign issue. “They think that’s a hyper-focus on beef that isn’t appropriate, given the cost of health care, given the cost of gasoline, given the cost of housing,” the lawmaker said.
What the administration is offering
The White House points to a coming meat processing deregulation announcement. Spokesperson Anna Kelly told DTN that Trump is expected to release “legal documents to be drawn in order to allow our great farmers and ranchers the right to process their own food.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins spoke at both the Nebraska State Fair and the Farm Progress Show this week. She defended the beef import policy and cited heifer insurance policies and possible processing deregulation as wins for ranchers. She also said more announcements would follow last week’s hints about processing reforms, including one with Trump. Those steps could include waiving processing regulations, letting ranchers sell meat across state lines, rescinding outdated guidance and using technology to speed food safety data. It is unclear how the Republicans’ visit might change any of that.
New reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday added to the unease. It revealed an Aug. 20 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Joesley Batista, one of the largest shareholders of JBS, the world’s largest meat processing company. Trump announced the end of out-of-quota beef import tariffs a day later. As of June 2026, Brazil was the second-largest source of U.S. imports at $1.7 billion of product, up 21% from the previous month. The anonymous lawmaker said ranchers are “more irritated by the market manipulation as a concept.”
A hemp delay in the bill
The Senate version also pushed back a ban on hemp products containing enough concentrated THC to produce a “high,” moving the start from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11. The hemp industry hopes the extra time will produce consensus on rules that keep some products on the market while addressing health concerns. No member mentioned the provision in floor speeches.
House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., and ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., both endorsed the bill. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and of the House Freedom Caucus, voted against it. Harris worked with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on last year’s hemp restrictions, and he has said the products are “not harmless.”
