WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush’s veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.
Only hours before the House’s 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high.
The Senate was expected to follow the House vote quickly.
Action stalled, however, after the discovery that Congress had omitted a 34-page section of the bill when lawmakers sent the massive measure to the White House. That means Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed, leaving leaders scrambling to figure out whether it could become law.
Democrats hoped to pass the entire bill again today under expedited rules usually reserved for unopposed legislation. Lawmakers also probably will have to pass an extension of current farm law, which expires Friday.
“We will have to repass the whole thing, as will the Senate,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.
Republican leaders called for a farm-bill do-over. The White House said the mix-up could give Congress time to fix the “bloated” bill.
“We are trying to understand the ramifications of this congressional farm-bill foul-up. We haven’t found a precedent for a congressional blunder of this magnitude,” said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman.
“In all likelihood, you have to redo this process,” said Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 Republican and one of the 100 GOP lawmakers who voted to override the veto. “I’d like to see a farm bill passed that no judge can say is not the farm bill.”
About two-thirds of the bill would pay for nutrition programs such as food stamps; about $40 billion is for farm subsidies; and $30 billion would go to farmers to idle their land and to other environmental programs.
“At a time when net farm income is projected to increase by more than $28 billion in one year, the American taxpayer should not be forced to subsidize that group of farmers who have adjusted gross incomes of up to $1.5 million,” Bush said in his veto message.
Wednesday’s snag stemmed from an error made while printing the legislation on parchment before sending it to Bush.
The underlying bill would make small cuts to direct payments, which are distributed to some farmers no matter how much they grow.
