Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/17/18

Funding for USDA and FDA (and many other government agencies) expires when the clock strikes midnight Saturday morning — but a final ag spending bill hasn't been completed. The bill, along with Congress' efforts to finalize Fiscal 2019 spending, is ensnared in the latest battle between Trump and Democrats over funds for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The president, who has threatened to shutter federal agencies if he doesn't get the $5 billion he's seeking for the wall, was mulling Friday a plan to punt the deadline into January when Democrats take over the House — a strategy increasingly favored by Republicans in Congress.

State of play: Lawmakers in charge of ag spending decisions are still deciding whether to include language to give USDA regulatory authority over cell-based meats or to restrict Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's plans to move the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture out of Washington. But leading appropriators appear less likely to interfere in a significant way on either issue, your host reports today.

— On cell-based meats, key appropriators who supported giving USDA full jurisdiction over the budding sector, like Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), now sound more open to the joint framework reached by Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb that would divide regulatory authority between the agencies.

— Critics of the ERS and NIFA relocation plans have struggled to mobilize congressional action against Perdue's effort, in part because many lawmakers are hesitant to thwart a proposal that could result in two government agencies being moved to their home state or district. In late October, USDA released a list of nearly 140 cities and counties across the country that have formally expressed interest in hosting the agencies.

"That was a very effective way of neutralizing opposition," Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) told MA last week.