WASHINGTON—A sharply divided House on Thursday approved legislation setting out policies and programs for the nation's farmers, using a strategy that pleased conservative Republicans, angered Democrats and left the future of farm policy and food stamps in doubt.
Bruised by the failure of the farm bill last month, House Republican leaders removed funding for food-stamp programs from the legislation, bowing to conservative demands that those programs be dealt with separately.
That marked a change in tradition for the farm bill, which in the past won support from a broad coalition of farm and non-farm lawmakers, who together agreed to back both farm and food-stamp programs.
By contrast, the vote Thursday divided the House by party. The vote was 216-208, with no Democrats joining the majority. Twelve Republicans voted against the bill.
The House action leaves the future of both farm and food-stamp programs in doubt. The Senate voted in June on a bipartisan basis to approve a farm bill that included both types of programs, and a senior Democratic leadership aide said senators were likely to insist that the farm and nutrition programs remain together.
House GOP leadership aides said they would work to advance a separate food-stamps bill, but the House action Thursday could escalate tensions with the Senate over the programs.
In the farm bill that failed last month, the House would have reduced food-stamps funding by $20 billion over the next decade, compared to $4 billion in cuts approved by the Senate. As House leaders look for Republican votes to pass a stand-alone measure, conservatives are expected to push for steeper cuts. Food-stamp programs cost $80 billion last year, up from $40 billion in 2008.
Still, in the Senate, some lawmakers were hopeful that negotiations between the two chambers could fashion a bill containing both farm and food-stamp programs.
Many conservative Republicans in the House have argued there is no reason to link the farm bill and food-stamps programs, and that their efforts to overhaul the nutrition programs will be more successful if it is considered as a stand-alone measure. Democrats in both chambers would oppose steeper cuts.
"Most Americans when they think of the farm bill think of agriculture," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee. "It really doesn't make much sense to merge these two issues together. They're very unrelated. We've got a food-stamps program in dire need of reform and we ought to do that."
Write to Corey Boles at corey.boles@dowjones.com
