Congressional Screwup May Force Farm Bill Do-Over

A paper-shuffling error may force Congress to repeat its work on the $289-billion farm bill already passed—and vetoed by President Bush. The version of the bill sent to the president was missing a section, Reuters reports. That makes the president’s veto theoretically invalid. House Democrats tried to re-insert the segment when voting to override the veto, but Republicans objected. Now no one’s sure what to do.

“We haven't found a precedent for a congressional blunder of this magnitude,” said a White House spokesman. Many believe the entire process should be repeated. But the Senate is going ahead today with its override vote; the Agricultural Committee says a decision about the missing section will be made later. (More farm bill stories.)