OMAHA (DTN) -- The longest partial government shutdown appears close to an end after President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law on Wednesday evening that also extends farm-bill programs.

The House voted 222-209 earlier in the evening to end the 43-day shutdown with six Democrats joining 216 Republicans to reopen the government. Two Republicans sided with 207 Democrats to reject the funding bill. The Senate passed the bill on Monday evening.

The bill provides short-term funding through January 2026 for most of the federal government but USDA for the full fiscal year 2026, while extending provisions in the farm bill as well. Despite Democrats' push, the bill doesn't address the expiring health-care tax credits at the heart of their objections.

Farmers should expect full services to return at local Farm Service Agency offices, including processing for loan applications for farm ownership or home loans that have been frozen since the shutdown began. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) should also reopen for business.

In the past, USDA has announced extended enrollment for programs that were affected by shutdowns. Producers will be waiting to see when USDA provides specific information.

Agricultural groups, by and large, indicated they were pleased to see the shutdown end. Other groups called for USDA to immediately fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to low-income Americans that have been frozen since the beginning of November.

FUNDING DEBATE

Lawmakers on each side during the floor debate did their best to blame the other party for the government shutdown, workers going without pay, the loss of food-aid benefits and airline gridlock. Republicans repeatedly pointed out that Senate Democrats voted 14 times over more than six weeks against reopening the government.

"The American farmer needs this bill to pass," said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. "The American soldier needs this bill to pass. Our air-traffic controls need this bill to pass ... I am one of those who represents a lot of federal employees, and they've been without a check for a long time."

The fight in Congress has been about the expiration of enhanced tax credits for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that were expanded in 2021 but are set to expire at the end of this year. The tax credits applied to people with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level. The enhanced tax credits increased ACA enrollment from 11 million to more than 22 million people.

"People's health insurance premiums are doubling and tripling, but Republicans say there is no affordability crisis, even as new tariffs are causing people an extra $1,200 a year," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Rules Committee.

SENATE LANGUAGE

Beyond health care, food stamps and government funding, one of the biggest issues highlighted Wednesday was a provision in the Senate bill that would allow senators to sue the federal government for up to $500,000 for each violation if their electronic records are obtained without their knowledge for an investigation. The provision comes after Republicans learned the phone records of eight senators were obtained by former Special Counsel Jack Smith in the probe looking at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The provision also would require senators to be notified in the future if their data is obtained. House leaders were unwilling to remove the language and force the Senate to vote again on the funding bill.

At least some Republicans in the House wanted the provision stripped. Scott said on the floor he had introduced separate legislation to eliminate the provision.

USDA DETAILS

The bill will fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the full fiscal year. The bill also extends programs under the 2018 farm bill until at least Sept. 30, 2026.

The bill would again fund SNAP with $107 billion for the program, and the bill reimburses both SNAP and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) contingency reserve accounts used during the shutdown.

SNAP benefits have been frozen after the Trump administration opted not to fund the program in November and battled over it in court. The administration appealed a federal court ruling earlier this week. The Supreme Court basically set aside an appeals court ruling, waiting for Congress to act. That has essentially held up SNAP benefits for nearly 42 million people since the start of November.

Roughly 40% of people on SNAP are children, and nearly 20% of SNAP recipients are senior citizens.

HEMP INDUSTRY IN TROUBLE

The bill rewrites the 2018 farm bill's provisions on hemp to end the unregulated sale of hemp-based products, including Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinols from being sold. The bill would limit cannabinoids to 0.4 milligrams combined per container. That eliminates "full spectrum CBD (cannabidiol) products" from the market.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to keep the provision in the bill. The hemp industry maintains that farmers and processors have created a $28 billion industry that will be at risk. The industry would have one year to adjust cannabinoids in products.

FARM PROGRAMS AND AGENCY BREAKDOWNS

Under the Farm Service Agency (FSA), the bill includes $10 billion for farm loans "to ensure that our producers have access to necessary capital." The bill also includes language preventing USDA from closing any FSA county offices.

FSA would also receive $15 million to hire new employees to fill vacancies and anticipated vacancies at county offices.

The bill, however, doesn't include changes that would increase FSA farm-loan limits or include other changes that would make USDA loans more attractive options for farmers. Several proposals have been offered in Congress, but it would take actual farm-bill legislation by the House and Senate Agriculture committees for those improvements to go into effect.

The bill also includes funding for USDA to better track foreign-owned farmland and provide the secretary of Agriculture with a position on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). Agricultural groups and farm-state lawmakers have pressed for years to give USDA a permanent seat on the committee, which decides whether foreign acquisitions create national security risks.

In conservation, the bill provides $850 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical assistance, despite the administration's budget proposal to eliminate technical assistance appropriations. The bill decreases funding for urban agricultural offices and programs.

Under the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA must continue all activities and reports, including the July Cattle report and the county estimates for crops and livestock. Both reports were cut for one year under the Biden administration because of cuts to NASS.

The bill would provide $3.8 billion for agricultural research but cuts funding for "Biden-era priorities like Climate Hubs." The agreement among lawmakers, however, also rejects some proposed funding cuts to research facilities. The bill states that the House and Senate appropriators "reject research termination and laboratory closures proposed in the President's budget request and expect extramural and intermural research to be funded at no less than the fiscal 2024 levels."

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) includes provisions to deal with chronic wasting disease, New World screwworm and avian influenza. The bill fully funds the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University at $24.5 million.

The bill also includes $13.5 million to help ranchers buy electronic identification tags to comply with animal disease traceability requirements.

In the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), $211 million will go to the agency, including $1 million to continue the Cattle Contract Library Pilot Program.

Rural Development would receive $4.1 billion, which includes $1.7 billion for housing rental assistance; $1 billion for single-family housing direct loans and $25 billion for guaranteed loans; $1.8 billion in grants and loans for rural businesses; and $1.4 billion for rural water and wastewater infrastructure.

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) would receive $100 million in loan authority.

Distance learning, telemedicine and rural broadband would receive $108.5 million.

International food assistance includes $1.2 billion for Food for Peace and $240 million for McGovern-Dole programs, but also requires USDA to outline how it will transfer the Food for Peace program from the now-defunct U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Foreign Agricultural Service.

The bill also includes the Grain Standards Act extension. The extension has already passed the House, but the Senate amended it, and the House will have to vote again on that provision.

MORE AG DETAILS

The line-item funding provisions for USDA include:

-- $16 million for the National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture Center at the University of Nebraska.

-- $13.5 million for a Mississippi watershed and flood prevention operation through NRCS.

-- $3 million for construction and facility improvements at the Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center.

-- $2.425 million for an "interdisciplinary center based at a land-grant university focused on agricultural policy relevant to the Midwest region."

-- $2 million for a pilot program at USDA that assists rural hospitals to improve their long-term operations and financial health.

-- $1 million for a Tribal Public Health Resource Center at a land-grant university.

-- $500,000 for a "seafood industry liaison" at USDA's Office of the Secretary.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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