NOW PLAYING
Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s Senate race, criticized Democratic lawmakers on a congressional panel who voted against the annual farm bill Thursday.
All of the Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to block the funding package from advancing to the Senate floor over a dispute surrounding the bill’s food aid provisions.
Turek, who won his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in the state’s Democratic primary in June, represents a state House district that has voted for President Trump in the past three presidential elections.
Turek has championed his bipartisan voting record in the state House and promised to “tackle Washington’s rampant corruption” if elected this fall.
“Iowa farmers have been waiting three years for an overdue Farm Bill, and today Democrats in the Senate failed them by letting perfect be the enemy of the good,” Turek said in a statement shared on social media.
“To be clear: I would have voted in support of this Farm Bill,” he continued. “This is just another example of a fundamentally broken Washington, and as Iowa’s next U.S. Senator, I’ll work with anyone to pass a damn Farm Bill — and I’ll make it so Congress can’t recess without passing one. Our farmers deserve no less.”
Turek is up against Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) in the November midterm election.
The GOP lawmaker responded to her Democratic opponent’s statement about the farm bill in a social media post, slamming Turek over his past support for California’s new pesticide and animal confinement requirements.
“Josh’s talk is cheap on this after Iowa farmers were outraged over his support for Prop 12 and against my Save our Bacon Act included in the Farm Bill,” Hinson wrote in the post. “Unfortunately for Josh, Iowans know he’s got about $30 million reasons to keep siding with Chuck Schumer against Iowa farmers,” she said, referencing the Senate Democratic leader from New York.
Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee opposed the funding package Thursday after the panel’s chair, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), refused to meet their demands on food aid legislation.
Ranking member Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and other Democrats on the panel have pushed the chair to delay a provision requiring states to share the cost of providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by two years.
Boozman offered a one-year delay, but the ranking member said this was not enough time to allow states to reduce SNAP error rates.
Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), one of the Democrats who opposed the bill’s advancement over its SNAP provisions, said in a Thursday statement that he was “disappointed” that a bipartisan solution had not been reached.
“At a time when families are already struggling to afford groceries, Republicans are working to make SNAP even more inaccessible, all while placing the financial burden on states and the backs of hardworking families,” Bennet wrote in a social media post. “For Colorado, this bill would be a devastating blow to our already strained budget.”
Klobuchar said after the vote Thursday that she was “committed” to working with Boozman to pass this legislation. The Republican chair announced he would reconvene the committee after Senate recess concludes in September to reconsider the bill.
“I’m deeply disappointed Democrats on the Ag Committee voted against advancing a farm bill,” Boozman said in a social media statement. “We have a responsibility to stand with America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Everyone recognizes the serious challenges they continue to face, and blocking the farm bill only adds to the uncertainty and hardship.”
In addition to unified votes from Democrats against the bill, absences from two of the panel’s GOP members blocked the bill’s advancement out of committee.
Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) voted by proxy and were therefore not included in the final vote tally of 10-11. The bill needed support from a majority of the panel to advance to the floor for a final vote on its passage.
The Hill has reached out to the offices of both GOP lawmakers for a comment about their absence from the vote. McConnell has not cast a vote in Congress since he sustained a fall in June. The Kentucky senator said he was released from a rehabilitation facility Thursday and is recovering at home during recess.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Amy Klobuchar Ashley Hinson John Boozman Michael Bennet Mitch McConnell Tommy TubervilleCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Campaign News
See All
Campaign DC to vote on foie gras ban in November by Finya Swai 2 hours ago Campaign / 2 hours ago 
