Moderate Democrats object to House plan to exclude farm-bailout money from bill that would keep government running

"House Democrats, amid a backlash from moderates, are backing away from a plan to block President Trump from extending new farm bailout funds, people briefed on the discussions said," Erica Werner and Jeff Stein report for The Washington Post. "Trump had authorized the bailout funds in response to an outcry from farmers who claimed they were caught in the middle of his trade war with China."

Last week, House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., proposed excluding the farm bailout, which could cost almost $30 billion, from a short-term spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown on Oct. 1. But a number of moderate House Democrats, many representing rural districts, objected and said the continuing resolution should include language safeguarding the farm bailout program, Werner and Stein report.

Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson, D-Minn., emphasized in a statement on Monday that he and other committee leaders were trying to protect the bailout. "As members of Congress who represent agricultural communities, we repeatedly hear from farmers in our districts whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by the ongoing trade wars," the statement said. "Although we mutually have concerns with President Trump’s approach to trade negotiations, we refuse to engage in the same tactics that punish our constituents and harm our communities that rely on agriculture. . . . We cannot and will not allow our farmers to be used as political pawns."

If Congress does not approve the bailout, some of the money Trump has promised may not be paid on the administration's schedule. That's because the Depression-era program Trump is using for the program, the Commodity Credit Corp., is expected to hit its $30 billion borrowing limit this year before the second round of payments are completed, the Post reports.