The bill was considered on the Senate floor on May 21–23, and June 3–4, June 6, and June 10, 2013. On June 10, 2013, the bill passed in the Senate in Recorded Vote 145: 66-27. Only two Democrats voted against their party: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). Eighteen Republicans voted in favor of the bill. As of June 24, 2013, the United States House of Representatives had not considered the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 or added it to a calendar. On June 20, 2013, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) urged the House to take up consideration of the bill, speaking from the Senate floor. The Senator argued that because the Senate bill had received the support of many Republicans and cut spending, the House should have no objections to passing it as well. The bill was not put on the Majority Leader's calendar for the week of June 24. On May 20, 2013, the President of the United States Barack Obama released a statement that the Administration "supports" passage of S. 954 and "looks forward to working with the Congress to address the important concerns  described below prior to final passage." The announcement listed several reasons that the President supported the bill: elimination of the direct payments system; consolidation and streamlining of conservation assistance; and the inclusion of funding for bioenergy programs. The statement criticized the bill for not adopting all of the Administration's previous proposals for achieving crop insurance and commodity program savings and objected to any cuts at all to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Senator Debbie Stabenow argued in favor of the bill because it both reduced the deficit and supported "16 million people who depend on agriculture for their jobs". The bill was opposed by groups focusing on hunger due to its reduction in spending on food stamps. It was also criticized by groups such as the Heritage Foundation for including a system of crop insurance that were less about helping farmers in the event of a true disaster and more of an income support system. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) criticized the bill for containing a catfish inspection program that he believes duplicates one that is already conducted by the Food and Drug Administration.