After a four-year absence, a Minnesotan will return to leadership on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, after Rep. Angie Craig gained support from her Democratic colleagues on Tuesday.
Craig, who represents southern suburbs in the Twin Cities and a swath of rural areas in southern Minnesota, will take over as the ranking member for the Democrats when the new Congress gavels in next month. In a caucus vote on Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Craig won the vote 121-91 over California Rep. Jim Costa.
In a statement, Craig noted she won her purple district by a double-digit margin because “my farmers and rural constituents know that I’ll meet them where they’re at.”
“We can lower food and energy costs for consumers,” Craig said. “We can strengthen the farm safety net and open the doors of opportunity to new and beginning farmers.”
The catapulting of Craig, 52, over the 72-year-old Costa, who’d gained support from fellow Californian and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, represents the latest toppling of a septuagenarian in Democratic leadership by a younger challenger. On Monday, the powerful Steering and Policy Committee voted in support of Craig over both Costa and current ag ranking member Rep. David Scott, a 79-year-old from Georgia.
The GOP will retain control of the House and gain control of the Senate in the new Congress. Still, in a narrowly divided House, committee leaders will likely need to forge compromises to produce legislation.
Expected to top the to-do list for the next House Agriculture Committee is a reauthorization of the Farm Bill. That legislation, which was slated to be approved in fall 2023, has been continued through a one-year extension that is on the brink of expiring.
Disputes over the allotment of nutrition programs, including the program formerly known as food stamps, as well as over climate change-fighting farm funding are currently bedeviling the massive omnibus bill’s fate.
