House GOP Rescues Rule Vote, Advances FISA and Budget — Farm Bill Gets a Vote Thursday, but Disputes Delay Action on E15
Late maneuvering keeps GOP agenda alive as leadership flips holdouts, delays ethanol fight, and pushes toward Thursday votes including on Farm Bill 2.0
House Republican leaders salvaged a critical procedural vote late Wednesday, April 29, narrowly advancing a rule that unlocked floor consideration for a slate of high-stakes legislation — including the reauthorization of surveillance authorities, a budget resolution tied to immigration funding, and the stalled Farm Bill 2.0 — after hours of internal conflict and last-minute dealmaking. Debate on the farm bill in the House began at around 10:40 pm ET Wednesday with a House floor vote on Thursday.
The rule ultimately passed 216–210 after being held open for more than two hours, as GOP leadership scrambled to flip multiple defections that at one point threatened to derail the party’s entire pre-recess agenda. The vote was widely viewed as a make-or-break moment, with no fallback plan in place and key national security authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set to expire.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) leaned heavily on a mix of concessions and assurances to win over holdouts, many of whom objected to the inclusion of a contentious ethanol measure and limits on amendment votes.
The breakthrough came after leadership agreed to temporarily sideline the E15 legislation — a proposal to expand nationwide sales of gasoline blended with 15% ethanol — which had divided Republicans along regional and industry lines (see box below for details).
Despite earlier signals that the broader farm bill (HR 7567) might be delayed until after the upcoming recess, House leadership reversed course late Wednesday and moved forward with debate and amendment votes, setting up a potential final vote on Thursday. The shift reflects pressure from farm-state lawmakers who warned that further delays could jeopardize already fragile coalition support. The farm bill’s pesticide language has angered some conservatives who argue it protects big companies from liability.
The ethanol fight remains unresolved. The rule technically allows the E15 bill (HR 1346) to be folded into the farm bill upon passage, but leadership has now effectively punted that decision until after the May recess, acknowledging that internal divisions — particularly from lawmakers concerned about refinery compliance costs — could sink the broader package.
Meanwhile, the House on Wednesday approved a three-year reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), passing the measure in a 235–191 vote with bipartisan support but notable cross-party opposition (22 Republicans voted no and 42 Democrats voted yes). The legislation now heads to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain ahead of the April 30 expiration deadline. Section 702 permits U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign individuals located abroad, though the program has long drawn scrutiny over incidental collection of Americans’ data. The House-passed bill includes a set of modest reforms, such as expanding congressional access to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court materials and strengthening oversight of FBI queries involving U.S. persons. It also requires monthly reporting to a civil liberties division within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and increases penalties for misuse of surveillance authorities.
Of note: House GOP leadership ultimately secured enough votes by attaching a separate provision barring the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), a priority for conservative lawmakers concerned about financial surveillance.
That addition, however, threatens the FISA bill’s future in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated the measure would be “dead on arrival” as it includes the CBDC restriction, setting up a likely scenario in which the Senate strips the provision, likely extends FISA for 45 days to give congressional leaders through June 12 to come up with a longer-term plan, and returns the bill to the House for final approval. Thune will need consent from all 100 senators to speed the bill to the floor before the Thursday night deadline. The House will also have to pass the 45-day extension. This will be a very big hurdle for Johnson.
With time running short before expiration, House leaders have prepared procedural options to fast-track a revised Senate FISA version, underscoring the urgency and continued volatility surrounding one of the government’s most consequential surveillance authorities. Also, the rule also gives GOP leaders an escape hatch on FISA by allowing a motion to suspend the rules to pass legislation under a fast-track process that requires a two-thirds vote of the House on Friday, May 1. Current House rules only allow such motions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The measure gives Johnson the option to advance a short-term FISA patch with Democratic votes if necessary.
The package further includes a Senate-passed budget resolution (SConRes 33) that would enable a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill focused on immigration enforcement funding — a top priority for the Trump administration — as well as procedural flexibility to take up Homeland Security funding or a short-term FISA extension if needed before recess. The vote was held open for hours until those Republicans initially voted no changed their votes to yes.
The chaotic vote underscored the fragile unity within the GOP conference, with disputes spanning biofuels policy, surveillance authorities, pesticide liability provisions, and amendment access. Several members initially voted against the rule or withheld support before switching positions after securing commitments from leadership on future negotiations or legislative priorities.
In the end, the late turnaround kept the House on track as it completed action on FISA and potentially the farm bill before lawmakers leave Washington for a one-week recess. But the underlying divisions — particularly over ethanol policy and agricultural provisions — suggest that final passage of Farm Bill 2.0 remains far from assured, with a major E15 policy fight now pushed into the next legislative window.
