Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/3/19

A trio of House committee hearings this week could provide insight into how hard Democrats plan to flex their new majority muscles as they examine some of the Trump administration's most contentious agriculture and nutrition proposals.

First up, the House Education and Labor Committee's civil rights and human services panel on Tuesday will host Brandon Lipps, head of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, to talk nutrition policy. That includes Perdue's rollback of school nutrition standards championed by former first lady Michelle Obama, a move that has been challenged in court by Democratic state attorneys general.

They'll also discuss the administration's proposal to restrict states from waiving work requirements for certain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients. The rule would lead to an estimated 755,000 people losing their benefits over three years, USDA estimated.

Also on tap Tuesday: The House Appropriations Committee will mark up its fiscal 2020 Agriculture-FDA bill, which would reject many of the spending cuts proposed by the White House to programs like agricultural research and international food aid.

Buckle up for ERS/NIFA debate: The spending bill includes language blocking Perdue from relocating the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture outside of Washington or bringing ERS under the control of USDA's chief economist. If thesubcommittee markup was any indication, expect plenty of chatter about the relocation on Tuesday.

The House Agriculture Committee is also set to weigh in on the relocation at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has called the plan "a bad idea" — but also said there's little he can do about it — while Republicans on House Agunanimously back the move.

The attention from Capitol Hill comes as USDA prepares to announce a new site for the agencies — either Kansas City, multiple sites in Indiana or the North Carolina research triangle. Perdue has said the move will save taxpayer dollars, bring the agencies closer to major farming regions and improve customer service. But USDA economists fear it's part of a crackdown on their research that can be unflattering to White House policies.

Democrats have increasingly looked for ways to pressure Perdue to reconsider moving the agencies, from blocking the department'sleasing proposals to placing a hold on USDA nominees in the Senate.