FY 2025 FUNDING FIGHT: Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Ag-FDA subcommittee, told MA he “would not be at all surprised” if the WIC nutrition program for low-income moms and babies becomes another fight in the FY 2025 Ag-FDA funding bill, along with a host of other issues. You’ll remember: Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to use WIC as “leverage” in the spending talks, a Republican lawmaker told Meredith at the time. “The personnel are still the same,” Bishop said. “I think the issues that a handful of folks on the other side are raising are probably still the same.” Bishop added it was clear in the most recent spending fight that “the appetite” among the majority of lawmakers “was not for those extreme MAGA policies,” with nearly every so-called poison pill stripped from the funding package. WIC warnings: The coalition of groups that came together to defend WIC from GOP cuts in the recent funding battle has new warnings for House Republicans: don’t try it again. House Republicans in part pushed to roll back the enhanced fruit and vegetable benefit for WIC, which put many vulnerable Republicans and Johnson in the crosshairs of powerful agriculture groups. “Quite honestly the fact that it was even ever a discussion, is a bit disheartening given that 1 in 10 Americans eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables every day,” Cathy Burns, who heads the International Fresh Produce Association, told MA. Burns said, if given the chance, she’d tell hardline House Republicans who may be eyeing another attempt to cut WIC in the upcoming FY 2025 funding fight that funding WIC “isn't just a nice to do.” WIC provides a return both in terms of the health benefits to millions of low-income moms and babies, and more than $1.3 billion in sales for farmers, Burns added. FNS TURNOVER: Speaking of USDA’s nutrition programs, at least five top career staff are retiring from the department’s Food and Nutrition Service, Meredith scooped last week. It’s a significant exodus of senior career officials with immense institutional knowledge.
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