Congress Moves Towards Ending Shutdown

The Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at fiscal year (FY) 2025 levels until January 30, 2026. At the same time, the Senate passed three appropriations bills to set full-year funding levels for certain agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Should the House of Representatives vote in favor of the bills, and the President sign them into law, the government shutdown will end. In this outcome, if Congress does not pass the rest of the appropriations bills when the continuing resolution ends, the parts of the government that did not receive full-year funding in this legislation will shut down again. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the legislation this afternoon. 

Key provisions in the legislative package include: 

• An extension of the U.S. Grain Standards Act. This authority enables USDA to develop and maintain grain standards. 
• A one-year extension of the Farm Bill provisions that were not already extended through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. If Congress does not pass a new Farm Bill, this extension will expire on September 30, 2026. 
• A ban on the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp products. 
• A requirement that any engineered animal food approved before February 19, 2019 must include “genetically engineered” in the market name. 

You can see the full text of the bills and supporting materials on this website here.