White House says no veto threat on farm bill

President Trump is not going to issue a veto threat of the farm bill over work requirements for food stamp recipients, a White House official said Wednesday.

“I don’t think we’ll be talking veto threats yet,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short told reporters.

Short said an upcoming meeting with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is going to be a progress report.

“I think it’s just updates on where the House and Senate are and progress being made,” Short said.

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The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that Trump is planning to tell Roberts and Conaway that he will veto the farm bill unless the legislation includes stricter work requirements for people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Roberts also said he doesn’t expect a veto threat when he meets with Trump on Thursday.

“Regardless of any comments, I think it’s way premature … I don’t expect to hear a veto threat,” Roberts told The Hill. “We have not heard from the administration and the people that we’re working with, who are the usual folks that do the policy discussions, and there’s been no comment on that.”

The farm bill would expand work requirements and shift a substantial portion of food stamp funding from benefits to job training.

The legislation passed out of the House Agriculture Committee earlier this month on a party-line vote, but Conaway needs the support of some of the more conservative members of his party if the legislation stands a chance of passing the House.

House conservatives have balked at supporting the legislation, in part because they say the food stamp changes aren’t strict enough.

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hasn’t yet released its version of the legislation, though Roberts has pledged the process will be bipartisan.