Ag Chair Thompson is moving ahead with his plans to unveil a draft of the long-delayed farm bill and hold a committee markup by Memorial Day.

Lawmakers have been locked in a deep impasse over key nutrition, climate and farm safety net funding for over a year.

Unless Republicans can secure significant Democratic support, a farm bill won’t pass on the House floor this year.

Ag Chair Thompson is also pursuing a potentially “slimmed down version” of the EATS Act in his farm bill draft. He has only a few weeks to find a compromise on the issue that has divided GOP lawmakers and sparked intense lobbying from animal welfare and other interests.

In other news, there is speculation that Sid Miller is a leading prospect for the top post at the USDA under a Trump administration. Other prospects for the post include Kip Tom, Trump’s former ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture and Nebraska’s Ag Director Sherry Vinton.

Read more about the latest from Washington here.