Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/12/18

When Democrats take control of the House in January, oversight of the Trump administration will be near the top of their agenda. For the House Agriculture Committee (and the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Agriculture Department funding), that means ramped up scrutiny of USDA on everything from relocating research agencies to doling out trade aid and granting poultry line speed waivers.

Meatpacking line speeds: Shortly before Election Day, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reiterated a request for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to provide monthly updates "through February 2019" on waiver requests from poultry plants seeking permission to process more than 140 birds per minute, the current limit, POLITICO's Sarah Zimmerman writes.

— USDA is also moving toward scrapping the limit on pork processing line speeds, despite opposition from food safety and labor groups who warn that faster line speeds will cause additional workplace injuries.

Trade aid: The department plans to announce around Dec. 3 details for a second batch of direct payments to U.S. producers stung by retaliatory tariffs, Catherine reports . The second round of trade aid could bring more complaints from commodity groups unhappy with their slice of the pie — and more questions from lawmakers about how USDA came up with its formula for determining aid.

One more for your radar: NBC reports that House Democrats have a list of dozens of stalled oversight efforts that they're seeking to revive next year — including looking into communications between USDA and "corporate lobbyists."