Washington Week Ahead: Graham’s Death Weighs on Senate/Ag Looms Large as Farmers Head to Capitol Hill

July 13, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Kim Chipman (Agri-Pulse) ... Corey Lavinsky, vice president of renewables policy at Calumet’s Montana Renewables, recalled (recently deceased Senator Lindsey) Graham’s strong support for the U.S. ethanol mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard law.

“At the 2015 Iowa Ag Summit, he delivered this memorable line on #ethanol and energy security: ‘Every gallon of ethanol you can produce here in Iowa is one less gallon you have to buy from people who hate your guts,’” Lavinsky posted on social media.

Ethanol is among top agriculture issues that farmers and biofuel producers will be talking with lawmakers about this week as they gather on Capitol Hill.

Members of the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Association and Renewable Fuels Association are holding Washington “fly-ins” later in the week. A major push is for Congress to pass a bill that would allow year-round, voluntary national sales of higher ethanol fuel blends, known as E15.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he’s working to get E15 legislation on the floor for a vote. A bill passed by the House in May is widely seen as a non-starter in the Senate, in part due to the chamber’s higher vote threshold. The House bill included a controversial provision involving oil refiners, separate from the actual E15 language.

Also raising hopes for E15 passage is Trump calling for E15 to be added to a supplemental military funding bill.

“That sent a strong signal to the Senate that the president is very serious about getting this done,” RFA CEO Geoff Cooper told Agri-Pulse. “We do expect that conversations and debate around a supplemental funding package will continue in the near term.”

Cooper hopes the Senate can pass E15 legislation before a five-week recess starting Aug. 8. After that, the Senate and House are in session for three weeks and then break again for almost all of October and the first week of November, to allow lawmakers to campaign ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 3

Along with E15, Trump is pushing for a supplemental bill to include about $11 billion in additional financial aid to farmers struggling with high production costs. The attempt to get more funds to farmers by the fall and in time for them to make investment decisions ahead of next season, has been a major goal of farm state lawmakers for months.

The death of Graham, along with the hospitalization of Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and member of the Agriculture Committee, narrows an already slim GOP margin over Democrats in the Senate.

How that impacts a supplemental package and key farm policy remains to be seen.

Another challenge amid the legislative calendar crunch is Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman’s goal of passing a proposed farm bill out of his committee before August recess.

The prospects of doing so likely depend on whether Republicans and Democrats can strike a deal around new state cost requirements under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a source of fierce partisan debate.

Both the House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene on Monday (July 13, 2026).

Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EST):

Monday, July 13

The Renewable Fuels Association holds its annual board meeting and Capitol Hill Day in Washington, through Wednesday.

...

10 a.m. – China and Section 301 investigations are the focus of an online event hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

4 p.m. – USDA crop progress report.

Tuesday, July 14

The American Soybean Association holds a board meeting.

The Organic Produce Summit is held in Monterey, California, through Thursday.

10 a.m. – Strategic Rethink: Congress Versus the President on US Trade Policy is hosted by AEI.

10 a.m. – The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee considers a rewrite of H.R. 9497, the Water Resources Development Act, 2167 Rayburn.

2 p.m. – House Foreign Affairs’ subcommittees hold a joint hearing, More Bang for the Buck: Aligning Commercial Diplomacy Between State and Commerce, 2172 Rayburn.

2 p.m. -- The House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs holds a roundtable, “Winning the Economic Competition with China: Working Families, the AI Race, and Energy,” Rayburn 2154.

3 p.m. USDA issues outlooks for wheat, cotton and wool, oil crops, feed, rice.

Wednesday, July 15

8 a.m. – The National Corn Growers Association holds a “Corn Congress” in Washington.

Farmer members of the American Soybean Association hold meetings on Capitol Hill as part of the group’s Washington Fly-In.

10 a.m. – The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meets to consider the Water Resources Development Act, and the nomination of Kevin Lilly to be assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife, 406 Dirksen.

10 a.m. – The House Foreign Affairs Committee holds a hearing, Ending Supply Chain Dependency: Aligning Tools, Capital, and Partnerships, 2172 Rayburn.

3 p.m. – USDA report on chemical usage on fruits.

Thursday, July 16

National Corn Grower Association members hold meetings on Capitol Hill as part of the group’s Washington Fly-In.

8:30 p.m. – USDA weekly export sales.
Friday, July 17

Former U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer delivers a keynote address at the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Economic Summit in Ankeny, Iowa. See full agenda here. READ MORE

Related articles

New Poll Shows Record Voter Support for E15 (Enegy.AgWired.com)
Ethanol Blog: Poll: 75% of Voters Back Year-Round E15 as Senate Returns From July 4th Recess (DTN Progressive Farmer)
Could the Sudden Senate Shake-Up Stall Emergency Farm Aid and Year-Round E15? (Hoosier Ag)
Grassley provides update on E15 in the Senate (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)

Excerpt from Hoosier Ag: The abrupt death of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the ongoing medical absence of Senate Appropriations Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have effectively frozen the legislative gears. Farm state lawmakers had planned to attach a permanent, nationwide approval for year-round E15 ethanol sales and $10 billion in emergency agricultural aid to an upcoming, must-pass Iran war supplemental spending bill. Now, that fast-track strategy is in limbo.

To stabilize South Carolina’s representation, Governor Henry McMaster moved swiftly, appointing Darline Graham Nordone—the late senator’s younger sister—to fill the vacancy. Nordone, a public administrator who has spent years advocating for individuals with disabilities, was sworn in Tuesday afternoon by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), becoming the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate.

However, her appointment is strictly temporary. She will serve only out the remaining months of Graham’s term, which expires in January, and her presence will not automatically place her on the ballot for a full six-year term in the upcoming special election. While Nordone’s arrival restores the GOP’s voting margin, it does not replace the raw institutional power or the seniority her brother wielded over the high-stakes appropriations process.

The stakes for the agricultural sector could not be higher. The emergency $10 billion farm aid package was designed to act as a crucial financial bridge for producers reeling from volatile global markets and high input costs. Tacked onto it is a permanent legislative fix allowing the uninterrupted, summer sale of E15—higher-blend 15 percent ethanol gasoline—a policy long blocked by environmental regulations during warmer months.

Farm groups had hoped this supplemental bill would clear the deck for the broader, highly contentions debate surrounding The Agricultural Act of 2026, colloquially known as Farm Bill 2.0. Introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR), Farm Bill 2.0 represents a massive, modernized overhaul of U.S. food, credit, and commodity programs meant to replace the expired 2018 framework. Boozman’s draft seeks to significantly increase federal crop insurance coverage, raise loan limits for struggling producers, and expand support for precision agriculture.

Yet, even before the current leadership crisis, Boozman conceded that the E15 fix faced a tortuous jurisdictional path. Because fuel regulations fall under the purview of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—chaired by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)—the Agriculture Committee could not shepherd it through alone.

“The reality is this is not in our portfolio,” Boozman said shortly before Graham’s passing. “It’s in the Environment and Public Works.”

Still, Boozman has maintained that the economic realities facing the American heartland leave Congress with little choice but to break the logjam. “It’s one of those things that we simply have to get done,” Boozman said. “And this is something that lots of people have been working on for many, many years.”

Whether Congress can deliver that relief ahead of the upcoming midterm elections remains an open question. Agriculture advocates worry that without Graham’s deal-making presence on the Appropriations Committee and McConnell’s strategic direction, Farm Bill 2.0 and the emergency E15 package could become casualties of a distracted, gridlocked capital. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley suggests time could be running out to get an E15 bill passed out of the Senate.

“There’s not many bills between now and the election to go to the president,” he said. “And we’ve got to figure out one of those bills to get E15 in.”

A recent poll conducted by Morning Consult for the Renewable Fuels Association showed 75% of registered voters are supportive of access to year-round E15.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday, the Iowa Republican was asked if Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell’s medical absence could affect the timeline for E15 legislation.

“The unknown is when McConnell gets back,” Grassley said. “That’s very necessary to have a Republican majority on the appropriations committee. But by the way, the appropriations committee isn’t the only place to put E15.”

Grassley says President Trump has made it clear that he would sign a year-round E15 bill if Congress can get it passed. READ MORE; includes AUDIO