Bryan Steil, the House member for Wisconsin's 1st District, cast a deciding vote on May 22, 2025 for the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and voted for the final law on July 3, 2025; by KFF's estimate, the law takes $1.7 billion in federal Medicaid money out of rural Wisconsin over ten years. In March 2025 he cast a deciding vote for a House rule that kept the House from voting to end the emergency behind tariffs that China answered with higher tariffs on U.S. soybeans, pork and dairy.
In 2026 Steil voted against every House resolution to end the Iran war, two of which his switch alone would have adopted, as diesel reached a record price in Wisconsin at planting time. He had called the tariffs a way to get other countries buying what is "grown in the state of Wisconsin."
Bryan Steil's Votes and Statements on Farms and Rural Wisconsin
- Steil Voted Twice for the Law That Cuts Rural Wisconsin's Federal Medicaid Money by $1.7 Billion, in 2025. On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil voted yes as the House passed the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act 218 to 214. On May 22, 2025 he had voted for the House version, which passed 215 to 214 with one member voting present, so it would have failed without his vote. KFF estimates the law reduces federal Medicaid spending in rural areas nationwide by $137 billion over ten years. The law also lets each owner of a farm partnership or corporation claim a full farm-payment limit, a change farmdoc daily says "will benefit most the older, more established farmers" and "will harm most the younger farmers" by pushing up land prices and rents.
- Steil Cast a Deciding Vote to Block a House Vote on the Tariffs China Answered by Taxing U.S. Soybeans, Pork and Dairy, in March 2025. On March 11, 2025, Steil voted for H.Res. 211, a House rule that passed 216 to 214, so a switch by him alone would have tied it, and a tie fails. It stopped the clock on a House vote to end the February 1, 2025 emergency behind the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. He voted for similar rules that passed 216 to 215 in April 2025 and 213 to 211 in September 2025, and on February 11, 2026 he voted no on ending the Canada tariff emergency. China answered the U.S. tariffs on March 4, 2025: "The tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafoods, fruit, vegetables and dairy products will be increased by 10%," NPR reported. U.S. soybean exports to China in 2025 were on track to fall 32% from 2024, UpNorthNews reported, even after an October 2025 deal.
- Steil Voted Against Ending the Iran War as Diesel and Fertilizer Costs Rose for Wisconsin Farmers, in 2026. Steil voted against all six House resolutions in 2026 directing the President to remove U.S. forces from the war with Iran, from March 5 to September 15. One failed 213 to 214 on April 16, 2026 and another failed on a 212 to 212 tie on May 14, 2026; on each, a switch by him alone would have adopted it. With one-third of the world's fertilizer shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, Wisconsin fertilizer prices rose 25 percent, and diesel reached an all-time Wisconsin high of $5.84 a gallon, up 75 percent, at planting time in May 2026, WBAY reported.
- Steil Said the Tariffs Would Get Other Countries Buying What Wisconsin Grows, in March 2025. In a Fox6 story published March 11, 2025, the day of his vote on the tariff rule, Steil said the tariffs were "a tool" to make other countries start "buying products made, produced and grown in the state of Wisconsin." Instead, China, which had bought more than half of U.S. soybean exports in 2024, boycotted American soybeans for months in 2025, and UpNorthNews reported that China's boycott "has cost farmers billion of dollars in lost exports."
What Bryan Steil's Votes Mean for Wisconsin Farmers and Rural Communities
- Rural Wisconsin loses $1.7 billion in federal Medicaid money, against $204 million from the rural fund. KFF estimates the law cuts federal Medicaid spending in rural Wisconsin by $1.7 billion over ten years. Wisconsin's first-year award from the law's rural health fund is $204 million, or $95 per rural resident, and KFF found the fund is time limited and pays for far more than rural hospitals, with restrictions on how hospitals can benefit.
- Wisconsin's 16,000 soybean farmers lost their largest foreign buyer for months. Wisconsin's 16,000 soybean farmers grow a crop worth about $1.3 billion a year, and the 2025 boycott came on top of high production costs and low crop prices; even the October 2025 deal commits China to buy less each year than it bought on average after the pandemic, UpNorthNews reported.
- Wisconsin farmers paid more for fertilizer as the war went on. A Seymour farmer told WBAY in May 2026 that "The price of fertilizer is still high and is continuing to go up" and that diesel at close to double the previous year's price would "impact the price of the hay".
Frequently Asked Questions About Bryan Steil on Agriculture and rural communities
What is Bryan Steil's record on agriculture and rural Wisconsin under Trump?
Bryan Steil cast a deciding vote for the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and voted for the final law, which by KFF's count cuts rural Wisconsin's federal Medicaid money by $1.7 billion. He cast deciding votes for House rules that kept the House from voting on the tariff emergencies China answered with tariffs on U.S. farm goods, and he voted against ending the Iran war as fuel and fertilizer prices rose.
How did Bryan Steil vote on the tariffs that hurt Wisconsin farmers?
Bryan Steil voted for three House rules in 2025 that kept the House from voting on ending the tariff emergencies, each passing by one or two votes, and in February 2026 he opposed the resolution ending the Canada tariff emergency. China's retaliation in March 2025 added a 10% tariff on U.S. dairy products as well as soybeans and pork, NPR reported.
How did Bryan Steil vote on ending the Iran war as fuel costs rose for Wisconsin farmers?
Bryan Steil voted no on the April 16, 2026 Iran war powers resolution, which failed 213 to 214, and on the May 14, 2026 resolution, which failed on a tie; a yes vote from him would have adopted either one in the House. By May, Wisconsin diesel had reached a record $5.84 a gallon, WBAY reported.
Last updated: 2026-10-26