WASHINGTON — Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson is protesting several provisions of a major agriculture spending bill, saying the committee in charge of the bill overstepped its authority when crafting the legislation.

But in forming the structure of floor debate for the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration funding bill on Monday night, the powerful House Rules Committee ignored Peterson’s appeal to allow members to challenge the relevancy of the bill’s provisions during debate.

In a letter to Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, Peterson said many of the provisions of the bill, a funding measure, would amend the 2008 Farm Act, a policy bill. Policy provisions should be considered by the House Agriculture Committee, where Peterson serves as the ranking Democrat, not the Appropriations Committee, Peterson said in his letter.

He also protested provisions that would cut $1.8 billion in funding for conservation programs that are considered mandatory spending. Changes to those programs should be considered by the committee that authorized them — in this case, the Ag Committee — not the Appropriations Committee, Peterson said.

So Peterson asked the Rules Committee to allow Agriculture Committee members to protest these provisions through parliamentary tactics called points of order. But Rules, which sets the standards that govern debate on the House floor, ignored his appeal, barring points of order but allowing debate on any amendments to the bill.

The House will begin debating the funding bill today.

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.