House passes sprawling farm bill despite GOP infighting

The House on Thursday passed a major bill reauthorizing agricultural and food programs for the next five years, overcoming GOP infighting that delayed and threatened to derail the legislation this week. 

The lower chamber voted 224-200 to pass the measure, with 209 Republicans, 14 Democrats and one independent voting to support it. Three Republicans and 197 Democrats opposed the measure.

The legislation would “expand investments in rural communities, bring science-backed management back to our national forests, and restore regulatory certainty in the interstate marketplace,” among other things, according to the House Agriculture Committee.

The farm bill was at the center of a storm of controversy this week. In an apparent compromise to advance the measure out of the Rules Committee, GOP leaders agreed to couple it with another yet-to-be-voted-on bill that would allow for the year-round sales of gasoline with ethanol content known as E15. 

Sales of E15 have been typically restricted for........

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