House representatives voted down the controversial 2013 Farm Bill Thursday afternoon. President Obama has threatened to veto the massive bill in its current state, based on its cuts to what he considers vital social programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, also known as food stamps, saying they are a “cornerstone of our nation's food assistance safety net.”
Both parties have stated strong dissatisfaction with the current Farm Bill, with Democrats stating that the $20.5 billion cuts to the SNAP program (in the House version of the bill) are unacceptable, and Republicans arguing that the cuts in the food program are not enough to offset costly agriculture subsidies in other parts of the bill.
The Farm Bill is renewed every five years. The House version, at 629 pages, is even longer than the Senate version at 576, and contains crop subsidies, as well as funding for the SNAP program.
