Upset over the stalled immigration plan, the Freedom Caucus opposed the bill, which raised job requirements for food stamp recipients

In an embarrassment for House Republican leaders, conservatives on Friday scuttled a bill that combined stricter work and job training requirements for food stamp recipients with a renewal of farm subsidies popular in GOP-leaning states.

Hard-right conservatives upset over the party’s stalled immigration agenda opposed the measure, which failed by a 213-198 vote with every Democrat in opposition.

The vote was a blow to Republican leaders. The work for the food stamps initiative polls well with voters, especially those in the Republican base.

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Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus opposed the measure, seeking leverage to obtain a vote on a hardline immigration plan authored by the judiciary committee chairman, Robert Goodlatte. Negotiations with party leaders failed to bear fruit and the food and farm measure was defeated.

The House speaker, Paul Ryan, took steps to call for a revote in the future but it was not clear when the measure might be revived. The bill, a twice-a-decade rite on Capitol Hill, promises greater job training opportunities for recipients of food stamps. Democrats are strongly opposed to it, saying it would drive 2 million people off food stamps.

Currently, adults aged 18 to 59 are required to work part-time to receive food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), or agree to a job if they are offered one. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults aged 18 to 49, who are subject to a three-month limit of benefits unless they meet a work or job training requirement of 80 hours a month.

Under the new bill, the tougher requirement would be expanded to all adults on Snap, with exceptions for seniors, pregnant women, caretakers of children under the age of six or people with disabilities.

“It sets up a system for Snap recipients where if you are able to work, you should work to get the benefits,” said Ryan. “And if you can’t work, we’ll help you get the training you need. We will help you get the skills you need to get an opportunity.”

Democrats and outside critics say the proposed additional job training would require huge new bureaucracies and extensive record-keeping requirements, and that the funding would fall far short of what is enough to provide job training to everybody covered by the new requirements.

“While I agree that there are changes that need to be made to the Snap program, this is so clearly not the way to do it,” said Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat of the agriculture committee. “The bill cuts more than $23bn in Snap benefits and will result in an estimated 2 million Americans unable to get the help they need.”

The measure would also renew farm safety net programs such as subsidies for crop insurance, farm credit and land conservation that form the backbone of support for the measure among Republicans.



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In the Senate, the agriculture committee chairman, Pat Roberts, is promising a competing bill later this month and is signaling that its changes to food stamps will be far more modest.

The House measure would also have cut funding for land conservation programs, prompting criticism from environmental groups. It also contained a proposal backed by pesticide manufacturers such as Dow Chemical that would streamline the process for approving pesticides by allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to skip reviews required under the Endangered Species Act.