House narrowly advances farm bill amid fight over Yemen war vote

The House on Wednesday narrowly overcame a procedural hurdle allowing them to move forward with a vote on the must-pass farm bill.

The bill only narrowly advanced in the House, 206-203, after language was tucked into the procedural rule preventing for the rest of the year a floor vote on any war powers resolution limiting the U.S. involvement in Yemen. The move sparked backlash from a number of lawmakers.

{mosads}Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) blasted it, urging his colleagues to vote against the rule ahead of it coming to the floor.

“Mr. Speaker, I wanted to be able to vote for this rule today since I said I was going to support the underlying legislation, but my Republican friends screwed it up again,” McGovern said during floor debate. “Because tucked inside this rule is language that turns off fast-track procedures for all Yemen resolutions through the end of this Congress. That’s right — the Republican leadership has declared that the worst humanitarian conflict in the world, where the U.N. has just announced famine is taking place due to the war, is not worth the time and attention of the people’s House.”

The provision’s inclusion comes as the Senate is expected to pass a resolution that uses the War Powers Act to force U.S. troops in or “affecting” Yemen to withdrawal within 30 days unless they are fighting al Qaeda.

The House is expected to pass the $867 billion farm bill later in the day. 

—Rebecca Kheel contributed.