The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously agreed to report the fiscal year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies appropriations bill, with the managers' package adopted by unanimous consent.

Chair Collins recognized Senator Hoeven, chair of the Agriculture subcommittee, and Senator Shaheen, the subcommittee ranking member, who described the bill as a bipartisan compromise that fully funds the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) at projected participation levels, preserves voluntary conservation programs and international food aid, and provides targeted increases for rural housing, food safety and agricultural research.

Senator Hoeven said the bill maintains a total funding level consistent with last year's committee allocation (approximately $21.7 billion as reported to the committee previously) and noted the largest increase was for WIC (described in the markup as roughly a $500,000,000 increase). He and Senator Shaheen emphasized bipartisan protections for farmers, the food supply and programs such as the Food Safety and Inspection Service, APHIS and NIFA.

Members raised and discussed several amendments during the markup, including proposals on hemp definition and agricultural research service stations. Senator Merkley said he would work with subcommittee leadership to put language protecting ARS stations into bill text rather than only report language; Senator McConnell spoke in favor of a hemp definition designed to block intoxicating lab-produced hemp-derived products and preserve a regulated hemp industry. Other members spoke about canceled National Science Foundation grants; Senator Baldwin said she would work with the subcommittee to try to restore awards that had been terminated.

The clerk called the roll on the motion to report the ag bill subject to amendment; the chair announced the vote as 27 ayes, 0 nays, and the motion to report favorably was agreed to.

Ending: The committee reported the agriculture-FDA bill with bipartisan support; sponsors said they will continue to work on several technical and implementation details while advancing the measure toward the Senate floor.