Senate OKs huge farm bill, puts House GOP on spot

Washington — The Senate’s passage of a nearly $1 trillion farm bill with bipartisan support presented House Republicans and their antideficit Tea Party faction with a huge spending bill that subsidizes large corn and other commodity farmers while spending record sums on food stamps.

The House Agriculture Committee delayed consideration of its version until after Congress returns from its recess July 11. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., ordered a slowdown to assess the political ramifications. The House Republican majority includes several lawmakers from rural states whose championship of farm subsidies has often trumped their claims of fiscal austerity.

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