House Dems sideline one of their own leaders in the fight over food stamps

House Democrats are intensifying their efforts to fend off cuts to the country’s largest nutrition program. But one Democrat who would typically be leading on the issue is notably absent from their new strategy: the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in late May assembled a task force on agriculture and nutrition led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) to respond to ongoing GOP efforts to restrict the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which serves more than 40 million low-income Americans. It’s a role that traditionally would be filled by Democrats on the chamber’s Agriculture Committee, led by the current ranking member, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.).

Thompson denies there is anything out of the ordinary about the move, saying in an interview that, “We do task forces all the time.” But a dozen current and former lawmakers, Hill staff and lobbyists said the creation of a parallel body to play attack dog on the issue is highly unusual, if not unprecedented. And it underscores just how dissatisfied Democrats have been with the Scott-led efforts to counter Republican attacks on SNAP thus far — and how nervous they are about GOP bids to rein in the country’s nutrition programs as part of this fall’s farm bill negotiations.

Scott’s colleagues have been raising concerns with House leadership since last year about the 78-year-old Georgia Democrat’s health and ability to steer the committee minority through a critical period for agriculture policy. The farm bill is a once-every-five year package that will divvy up roughly $1 trillion in funding across programs to combat hunger, support farming, promote conservation and serve rural communities. “There are real questions about whether he’s with it,” one Democrat on the panel, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject, told POLITICO last year.

Democratic leaders last year rebuffed demands from within the caucus to replace Scott — who has strong ties to senior members and made history last Congress as the first-ever Black lawmaker to chair an agriculture committee. Scott’s Democratic colleagues widely expect him not to run for re-election next fall. And, privately, they note Thompson — another well-respected, senior Black Democrat who still holds seniority on the Agriculture Committee — would be an ideal replacement in the eyes of Democratic leaders.

Scott’s office did not return a request for comment on the task force and his role on the farm bill. Instead, it forwarded the request to Jeffries' office. Jeffries spokesperson Christiana Stephenson confirmed that the House minority leader had met with Scott to discuss the task force plan before rolling it out in May. And while not denying it was unusual, she said it was necessary to respond to Republicans’ unprecedented attacks on food assistance.

“At every opportunity this Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans have attempted to use vital, must-pass legislation to jam their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people,” Stephenson said in a statement. “Their fixation on cutting nutrition and agriculture programs that keep people fed and our economy functioning is just one example. Leader Jeffries appointed the Task Force members to support the Agriculture Committee in developing a unified Democratic message to counter such partisan political efforts.”

Jeffries, in a brief hallway interview, also denied that Scott’s health had anything to do with the task force’s creation, and was unequivocal that Scott remained “the top Democrat related to these issues.”

But former Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), who served on the Agriculture Committee for five terms as well as the House Administration Committee, said he “would have been livid if our leadership team created a task force dealing with our issue,” when he was the ranking member of House Administration. “It’s something clearly that the Democratic leadership thinks is lacking.”

Scott does not typically attend subcommittee hearings — an anomaly for the ranking member of a committee. He also has not traveled with the committee for out-of-town farm bill listening sessions this Congress, an important part of drafting the massive legislation. He no longer speaks with reporters in the halls of the Capitol after hearings, as he once did, and has not held a press conference this Congress to push back on Republican attacks on nutrition programs.

In contrast, his GOP counterpart, Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), frequently holds court with a cadre of reporters when the House is voting and has attended virtually every hearing and listening session.

In May, House Republicans succeeded in adding new restrictions on SNAP beneficiaries in the deal they negotiated with the White House to raise the debt limit. And members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are demanding the farm bill include further restrictions on SNAP and other nutrition programs for low-income people.

“Scott wasn’t doing a ton or as much as I think was expected,” said a former House Democratic aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss their former workplace. “If the ranking member isn’t leading on it, there’s … a vacuum of leadership.”

One senior Democrat who serves on the Agriculture Committee and was granted anonymity to speak candidly about Scott’s leadership of the committee minority, said, “It is what it is, and you see, you know.”

Jeffries announced the launch of the task force in a members-only memo, and the task force held its first meeting behind closed doors. But after a quiet start, the group has recently picked up its activities, including hosting a July 13 roundtable in the Capitol that resembled a Democrat-only House Agriculture Committee hearing, with testimony from some of the most powerful farm interests in the country. The task force has also held at least four out-of-town listening sessions, including one in Thompson’s home state of Mississippi. It has even retained the help of a former Scott committee staffer — Victoria Maloch, who left the committee in February to become a special adviser at the Agriculture Department’s communications office.

USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez confirmed USDA has multiple staff members detailed to both the House Agriculture Committee and to members serving on the task force to provide extra capacity ahead of the farm bill.

As of now, the task force does not have further events scheduled, Thompson spokesperson Alexus Hunter said, but she didn’t rule them out. Ultimately, the members of the task force plan to come up with a list of farm bill recommendations they will deliver to the caucus and then the House Agriculture Committee, according to Thompson, even though Scott has already set out a list of priorities.

And as Davis noted, there’s nothing stopping Scott from holding Democrat-only roundtables.

“That’s something we did on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when we were in the minority,” Davis said. “I was able to do roundtables anytime we needed to build up a priority.”

The former House Democratic aide agreed that normally, “the minority [on the] Ag Committee would hold either their own listening sessions or would be pretty actively participating in the ones that the majority is holding and leading the way on things.”

“I find it very strange that this is the situation,” the former aide added.

The task force’s role could also prove confusing when it comes time to negotiate the farm bill. More than a dozen GOP lawmakers and aides have privately raised concerns about who, exactly, they’ll be negotiating with on the Democratic side — and would prefer that it not be Thompson.

“We have no plans to negotiate with Bennie,” said one GOP aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Committee Chair G.T. Thompson told POLITICO he has not had any communication with Bennie Thompson. But he said he’s happy “when anybody’s talking about the farm bill,” and will take their priorities seriously.

“We’ll take everything under consideration,” the Pennsylvania Republican said.

Asked if Bennie Thompson would play any role in negotiating with Republicans on the farm bill, Jeffries said the task force chair is “leading an effort to make sure that everyone throughout the House Democratic Caucus can express themselves with respect to issues connected to agriculture and nutrition in the 21st century.”

As Scott was leaving a contentious Agriculture Committee hearing on nutrition this June, a reporter managed to ask him how the hearing went as the Georgia Democrat walked to the elevator with an aide at his side.

“I don’t know,” Scott replied to the reporter.

The reporter also asked him if he had any confidence that the panel would be able to avoid the same fights as in the past, referencing the intense battle over food aid.

“No,” he replied.