Washington Week Ahead: Thompson looks to nail down farm bill votes

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson prepares to release the text of his draft farm bill as he seeks to lure some Democratic votes for the legislation ahead of the panel’s May 23 debate. This Wednesday, three Democrats on the House Ag Committee will hold a news conference to call for keeping climate-related restrictions on the Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding when it’s brought into the farm bill. The three Democrats are Chellie Pingree of Maine, who chairs the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Climate and Agriculture Task Force, and SEEC members Nikki Budzinski of Illinois and Andrea Salinas of Oregon. Salinas is one of eight Democrats on the committee whose races are classified by the Cook Political Report as either toss-ups or only slightly favoring the incumbents.