President Obama’s proposal to reform the US food aid system was widely celebrated by critics of the current system. But his proposals appear to have run into strong opposition in Congress.

According to the New York Times, members of both the House and Senate agriculture subcommittees have already voiced opposition to proposal to shift responsibility for food aid programming from the Department of Agriculture to the US Agency for International Development and the Department of State. And in a rare sign of bipartisan cooperation in Washington DC, subcommittee Republicans and Democrats are hesitant.

Robert Aderholt (R-AL), House agriculture committee chair, expressed concern that shifting the food aid budget from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of State would “hurt American farmers.” Sam Farr (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, raised similar concerns, noting that, “I’m not endorsing the transfer — the realignment — until there are assurances that…