Source:  POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 9/16/19

House Democrats this week are expected to bring a short term spending bill to the floor in hopes of keeping the government funded beyond the end of the month, but the big question in ag circles is whether the bill will include language that would keep USDA from hitting the current $30 billion cap on the pot of money used for trade aid payments.

As POLITICO reported last week , a draft of the continuing resolution that was circulating late last week didn't include this language. Talks continue on the bill, however.

Kicking the can: It's unclear how long the short term spending bill will last. It may only take Congress up until Thanksgiving break.
Appropriations process slogs ahead slowly in Senate: The House has made more progress than the Senate in terms of writing the spending bills needed for fiscal 2020. The House has already cleared most of its bills, while the Senate hasn't cleared any. Just last week, Senate GOP appropriators advanced their funding levels for the next fiscal year, a move that sets the framework for the appropriations process. The spending cap for discretionary spending for USDA and FDA programs was set at $23.1 billion, which is slightly above this year.

Senate ag spending bill on the move this week: The Senate Appropriations Agriculture-FDA Subcommittee will consider its fiscal 2020 spending bill on Tuesday afternoon with a full committee markup scheduled for Thursday.