(CQ Today) -- Final talks on the farm bill began weeks ago with optimism, but the process is now trying the patience of some lawmakers. The mood is quite different from a few weeks ago, when farm-state lawmakers were hopeful a breakthrough was close at hand. Since then, members of the tax and farm panels in both chambers have been trying to come up with a new funding mechanism for the measure (HR 2419). Under pay-as-you-go rules, any new spending must be offset by new tax revenue or funding cuts. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asked the negotiators to find a way, by Friday, to offset about $10 billion in extra spending. But even if lawmakers -- particularly the leaders of the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means committees -- meet that deadline, there is no guarantee the White House will buy into the plan. Some aides say that members in both chambers have discussed cutting a deal without White House consent, sending that product to the president and letting him veto it — a tactic that could score the Democrats some political points in an election year. Behind all the proposals, deals and closed-door discussions looms a March 15 deadline for finishing the measure. That’s when a three-month extension of current farm bill expires, and members are facing the stark reality that they may have to pass another short-term extension — or punt the measure until next year.
