Farm bill stalled for now

In this Reuters report, it sounds like not much was done on the farm bill yesterday before the debate broke down. This morning I talked with one Washington lobbyist who said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used a parliamentary procedure called "filling the tree" to limit amendments. Under that procedure, the majority leader picks how many and what amendments will be accepted on the farm bill. Apparently Republican leaders were outraged and pulled out quotes of Reid condemning the "filling the tree" tactic when it was employed by then Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican.

Reid said he needs to limit amendments to get the bill passed by Thanksgiving. However, negotiations are going on behind the scenes right now and Republicans and Democrats could come to an agreement on the number of amendments offered. That may allow the now stalled debate to resume later today, the lobbyist said.

In any event, the farm bill will likely debated through the end of next week, as the Senate takes it up and puts it aside to deal with other issues - particularly the conference report on defense appropriations.