Congressional Screwup May Force Farm Bill Do-Over

Pages missing from bill sent to Bush
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 22, 2008 10:11 AM CDT
Congressional Screwup May Force Farm Bill Do-Over
House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., calls on a reporter during a news conference after the House approved the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.    (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A paper-shuffling error may force Congress to repeat its work on the $289-billion farm bill already passed—and vetoed by President Bush. The version of the bill sent to the president was missing a section, Reuters reports. That makes the president’s veto theoretically invalid. House Democrats tried to re-insert the segment when voting to override the veto, but Republicans objected. Now no one’s sure what to do.

“We haven't found a precedent for a congressional blunder of this magnitude,” said a White House spokesman. Many believe the entire process should be repeated. But the Senate is going ahead today with its override vote; the Agricultural Committee says a decision about the missing section will be made later. (More farm bill stories.)

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