WASHINGTON—In a vote largely on partisan lines, the U.S. House of Representatives overlooked serious flaws in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 and voted 224 to 200 to pass legislation full of harmful provisions impacting animals, communities, families and the environment. Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund, formerly called the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, offer the following statements for media reporting on the Farm Bill.
Sara Amundson, president, Humane World Action Fund, said:
“This Farm Bill became a largely partisan vehicle for a narrow set of corporate interests determined to roll back basic protections for animals and strip states of their right to set humane standards for products sold within their borders. However, three Republicans voted against final passage, and the language gutting 15 state laws on all sides of the political spectrum—from Arizona to Ohio to Florida—was a factor for a few of them. These states have already acted to limit the cruel confinement of farm animals because voters believe animals should at least be able to turn around, extend their limbs and lie down comfortably. Those who voted for this bill chose willingly to ignore that emerging consensus and instead sided with a handful of Big Pork producers trying to rewrite the rules after losing time and time again at the ballot box and in the courts. This Farm Bill isn’t about helping farmers or feeding families, it’s about preserving a cruel industrial system most Americans reject. We will press the Senate to take a different path on their Farm Bill so that it protects animals, respects states’ authority and upholds the will of voters.”
Kitty Block, president and CEO, Humane World for Animals, said:
“This was a defining vote for our long-standing work to ensure that animal welfare laws aren’t decided by a handful of powerful industries behind closed doors. While the House ultimately passed this Farm Bill, we’re grateful to the bipartisan group of members—and the thousands of advocates, farmers and businesses—who stood up to oppose provisions that are out of step with their constituents’ values, the evolving marketplace and our basic standards of decency for animals. Their leadership made clear that there is significant and growing resistance to rolling back state animal welfare and public health laws. We will carry that momentum into the Senate and continue fighting for a Farm Bill that rejects any attempt to strip states of their power to protect animals.”
For more than a decade, Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund have led work in more than a dozen states across the country to end the cruel confinement of farm animals, and the enactment of California’s Proposition 12 is one of our most notable achievements. We helped draft the initiative, build the campaign that secured its overwhelming approval by millions of voters in 2018 and defend its constitutionality at every level of the court system, including a successful defense before the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2023.
This vote outcome on the Farm Bill in the House also jeopardizes critical protections for animals across multiple fronts that were blocked from consideration including advancing stronger standards for dogs in breeding facilities and improving enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act. It also endangers progress toward ending horse slaughter, blocking taxpayer support for the mink industry and expanding pathways for animals used in research to be retired into safe environments.
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