Farm bill headache may continue

The drama over the farm bill may not be over after all.

The Senate is likely to take up the full farm bill when it returns because of the confusion surrounding President Bush’s veto of an incomplete version of the bill, Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin’s office said Friday.

{mosads}An aide to the Iowa Democrat said the Senate may vote on the full farm bill sometime after it returns instead of voting only on Title III, which covers trade policy. That section was mistakenly left out of the version of the $300 billion bill sent to President Bush, who issued his veto on May 21.

The Senate and House subsequently overrode the veto, but procedural and constitutional questions arose once it was discovered that Bush vetoed an incomplete version of the bill.

Senate and House members have said they believe the new farm bill is law, but it is unclear whether Title III is law since this section was dropped from the version President Bush vetoed. As a result, this section may not have been covered by the overrides.

An aide to Harkin said the Senate could vote on the full farm bill instead of just Title III because the full farm bill has “better prospects for success.” The House already voted on the farm bill for a second time on May 22, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) resisted that approach, saying only an amendment or small-scale fix was needed.

A Senate Democratic leadership source on Friday echoed Harkin’s office, saying that a vote on the full bill is preferable to a vote only on Title III. The source said Republicans have not yet agreed on how to handle the situation. A majority of GOP senators supported the farm bill despite Bush’s veto.

It is unclear when such a vote would occur. The Senate is already expected to vote on a climate change bill and an energy tax package next week.