The U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee has passed an amendment that would prevent the USDA from using a portion of its 2015 budget carry out inspections at U.S. horse processing plants.

Before 2005, USDA personnel carried out horsemeat inspections at U.S. horse processing plants. In 2006, Congress stripped the USDA of funding for inspections at facilities that process horsemeat for human consumption. Horses were thereafter shipped to Mexico and Canada for processing.

Congressional funding bills contained amendments denying the USDA revenue for horse processing plant inspections until 2011, when Congress passed an appropriations bill that did not contain language specifically forbidding the agency from using federal dollars to fund horsemeat inspections through fiscal year 2012. However, a provision in the Omnibus Bill for fiscal 2014 forbade the USDA from using federal funds to pay personnel for inspections at U.S. horse processing plants.

On May 22, Senate Appropriations Committee members voted to amend the fiscal 2015 agriculture appropriations bill to forbid USDA inspections at domestic horse processing plants through fiscal 2015. The appropriations bill, including the amendment, remains pending in the U.S. Senate