Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is leaning against backing a massive farm bill that would rewrite agriculture policy over the next five years, a choice that puts him in between his fiscal conservative base and rural states important in the general election.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has long sided with his conservative base on the issue, calling a 2002 farm bill “an appalling breach of our federal spending responsibility.” But he has remained out of the debate this Congress as the fight over the bill has intensified, including missing Senate votes last year over a $286 billion bill.

To read the rest of this article, please click here.