Bid ‘borders on irresponsible,’ says Sen. Conrad as Mike Johanns looks toward run for the Senate
By Ian Swanson and Aaron Blake
September 20, 2007
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns’s expected decision to run for a Nebraska Senate seat provides a boost for Republicans, but drew quick criticism from some Democrats who say the secretary should finish what he started on the 2007 farm bill.
“Just to take a walk in the middle of a farm bill that only happens once every five years, it borders on irresponsible,” Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told reporters Wednesday. He said Johanns should stay at his post until work concludes on a 2007 farm bill that was approved in the House but faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
“I do think that as the head of the Department of Agriculture, the most responsible thing for him would be to stay with it until we’ve got it across the finish line,” said Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), who like Conrad is a member of the Agriculture Committee. The current farm bill expires at the end of this month.
The criticism likely foreshadows a Democratic line against Johanns if he becomes the GOP nominee to succeed retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.). Former Democratic Congressman Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas) warned that
Johanns could be imposing a self-inflicted blow to his political future in Nebraska, where the farm bill is a huge policy issue.more...
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