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Republicans ask WH to withdraw brief in Roundup case

The ranking members of the House and Senate Ag Committees say farmers will lose a critical crop protection tool if a court of appeals decision is upheld.

In a letter to the White House, Congressman GT Thompson of Pennsylvania and Senator John Boozman of Arkansas asked the Biden administration to withdraw its current brief before the Supreme Court in a case involving Roundup.

During a call with reporters on Tuesday, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley said Republican lawmakers want to know why the Solicitor General changed its position that the EPA has federal authority for crop protection tools and whether filing the brief was based on administration changes.

“This is something where it’s so unusual that they didn’t do it based upon any rationale as to why this should be before the Supreme Court,” Grassley said. “It was strictly a political decision.”

Grassley says he’s urging the Supreme Court to take up the case.

“It’s very important that they do it from this standpoint: that you can’t have one state, California, interfering with interstate commerce with their state laws,” Grassley said.

In their letter, Thompson and Boozman said the EPA’s registration process would also evolve into a state-by-state patchwork if the Supreme Court allows the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling to stand.