Government shutdown ends, USDA funding finalized

On November 12, the longest government shutdown finally came to an end after 43 days. After weeks of impasse, Congress approved a legislative package that included a three-bill minibus covering fiscal year 2026 (FY26) funding for USDA, FDA, Veterans Affairs, and the legislative branch, along with a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the remaining government agencies through Jan. 30, 2026. While the package didn’t include an extension for the Affordable Care Act tax credits, Democrats have been promised a vote on the tax credits in the Senate in December, and the House is expected to spend the remainder of the year discussing healthcare reforms.

Below are highlights of the newly passed package and an outlook on what to expect in the coming months out of DC.

FY26 Agriculture-FDA funding

The final FY26 Agriculture-FDA bill had an overall topline number of $26.65 billion, which represents an amount higher than proposed in the House bill and slightly lower than the proposed Senate funding levels. The bill does not contain large-scale cuts to agencies and programs and fully funds high priority programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) while also leaving most agencies and programs funded at previously enacted levels. Unfortunately, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) received a small $10 million (2%) cut in the final bill. 

Federal staffing

The bill reversed any firings of federal employees that the Administration has carried out since the government closed at the beginning of FY26 on October 1 and prohibits reductions in force (RIFs) while the CR is in effect.

Farm bill extension

The CR included a farm bill extension for the provisions that were left out of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The extension did not provide additional funding for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), which received the equivalent of one year of funding ($37 million) in reconciliation. The extension provides Congress with yet another year to complete a farm bill, and given the congressional calendar for the remainder of 2025, punts committee or floor action on Farm Bill 2.0 into 2026.   

Going forward

All agencies are technically back open starting November 13 with furloughed employees finally able to return to work. While staff are back, “normal order” is expected to take some time. Despite the major movement, Congress will now have just over two months to finalize the remaining nine appropriations bills before the threat of another shutdown. This will need to be done along with other outstanding issues, including passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and addressing healthcare costs, which was one of the leading issues for Democrats throughout the shutdown.