The 2023 Appropriations Bill passed the Senate with 17 Republican solons joining their Democratic counterparts.  The Bill passed in the House by a majority of 225 to 201 with nine Republican members joining the Democratic majority.  The Bill assigned $773 billion to domestic expenditure, $850 billion to the military and included $45 billion for support of Ukraine.

In commenting on passage of the Bill, that was enacted by Presidential signature on December 29^th, the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack noted some of the programs that would benefit:-

• Agriculture research will be enhanced

• Economic development and growth in rural areas will be expedited

• The Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative will progress

• Summer EBT will provide meals year-round for eligible schoolchildren

• Wildfire suppression will be improved

• Disaster assistance funds will provide relief for farmers impacted by climatic and other catastrophic events

• Underserved communities including tribal areas will receive funding for a wide range of projects to advance wellbeing  

• Nutrition programs will be fully funded

Before rising, the 117^th Congress confirmed Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban as Under Secretary for Food Safety and Alexis Taylor as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs.

Secretary Vilsack noted, “USDA is ready to hit the ground running in 2023 to keep expanding our economy from the bottom up and the middle out and ensure that rural communities, farmers, ranchers and producers are empowered with the tools necessary to thrive.” The USDA could benefit from an Under Secretary for De-jargonization tasked with remediating fractured English!