Update on Activity in Congress and the White House

[Mike SP]

Update on Activity in Congress and the White House

The Shutdown is Over

By Amy West and Joshua Tauberer (Nov. 14, 2025)

Both sides caved. Senate Democrats didn’t get the extension of expiring health care subsidies they asked for or a guarantee in law that President Trump won’t cut programs funded by Congress (although they did get workforce protections — see below). And House Republicans, who vowed they would not negotiate with Democrats, came back into session to accept the deal struck in the Senate with a provision on payouts for senators which they already want to repeal (more on that too, below).

H.R. 5371: Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 is the bill that ended the shutdown. It includes funding for the remainder of the fiscal year for the food assistance program SNAP, the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, the military, Veterans Affairs, and Congress itself (that is, through Sept. 30, 2026), and a continuation of Trump-level funding for the rest of the federal government just through January. It also contains a handful of extraneous provisions discussed below.

It cleared the Senate in a vote Monday night with 8 Democrats defecting. Then it passed the House on Wednesday 222-209, with six Democrats voting for it and two Republicans against. The President signed the bill later that evening and by Thursday, furloughed workers were returning to work and backpay was supposed to start disbursing without delay. Midday Thursday, the Department of Justice withdrew its case against SNAP payments so those payments that were held up should also be disbursed in the next few days.

What Democrats Got

The first of three notable extraneous provisions reverses firings of federal workers that occurred during the shutdown and prohibits any further mass firings of federal workers until the end of this continuing resolution which is January 30, 2026. (Whether that actually stops the Trump Administration from doing more mass firings remains to be seen.)

Democrats did get one other thing out of the shutdown: Delay. By grinding Congress nearly to a halt in what is usually one of the most productive months for legislating, Democrats prevented the Republicans’ agenda from moving forward. Although the Senate kept working during the shutdown as we mentioned last update, floor time was occupied by numerous failed votes to end the shutdown. And no Republican legislation moved forward in the House for 54 days, though that was on account of House Republicans’ choice to leave town.

A Payout for Some Republican Senators

The next extraneous item — and one that caused one of the two House Republicans to vote no — is a part of a new section on surveillance by the Executive Branch of the Senate. Though the provisions are written generically, it seems to give several senators a payout over the seizure of their phone records during DOJ investigations into the events around January 6, 2021. This section provides for $500,000 to each Senator for each “instance” of record collection that doesn’t meet new but retroactive requirements. Potentially this could be quite the payday for the senators involved, possibly in violation of Senate ethics rules. As of Friday, November 14, some of the Senators who would benefit say they won’t pursue the money. Sen. Graham (R-SC) on the other hand says he’s going to go for as much as he can get. The House says it will hold a vote soon to repeal that provision, but that likely won’t go anywhere without the senators who put the provision there in the first place.

Food Safety Rules Weakened

According to The Lever, “Amid a lobbying blitz and a flood of campaign cash, senators inserted language into this week’s emergency spending bill that eliminates rules designed to prevent food contamination and foodborne illnesses at farms and restaurants, according to legislative text reviewed by The Lever. The bill would also limit the development of rules to regulate ultra-processed foods, despite such foods being derided by the ‘Make America Healthy Again Movement,’ championed by President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”

SNAP Fully Funded Through Next September

Because the FY 2026 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s appropriations bill was included in the final version of the continuing resolution, SNAP (food assistance for low income Americans) will now be fully funded through the end of the fiscal year which is September 30, 2026. Even if there’s another shutdown, there will not (or should not anyway) be a gap in disbursements to folks who can’t afford food.

And there’s a lot more in the bill than we can research, unfortunately.

We’re Not Doing This Again Next Year, Are We?

Probably not, but who knows. The current continuing resolution lasts until January 30, 2026. Only three of the 12 appropriations bills have now been completed. Will the other nine get finished by January 30? Maybe, maybe not. More likely is another continuing resolution to get to the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2026, or another shutdown.

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[Mike SP]

Update on Activity in Congress and the White House

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Legislative Recap for 11/21/25

By Amy West (Nov. 21, 2025)

The House was certainly back this week. A lot of legislative energy had been pent up for a very long time. Several bills passed unanimously or nearly so; several more were highly partisan while another batch were censure resolutions expressing various kinds of frustration, both partisan and personal. So, in general order of topic and level of support, here’s what the House was up to. Plus one Senate vote that sends a regulation nullification to the President for his signature.

Regular Bills

One bill listed below is now law; that’s the Epstein Files Transparency Act. All the rest are still early in the legislative process and are not yet law.

·         H.R. 6019: To repeal certain provisions relating to notification to Senate offices regarding legal process on disclosure of Senate data, and for other purposes, which would repeal provisions in the continuing resolution that was just passed which would provide a small number of Senators an opportunity for significant payments from the government, passed 426-0. It’s unknown whether this bill will receive a vote in the Senate or whether it will pass.

·         H.R. 4405: Epstein Files Transparency Act passed 427-1 on Tuesday, November 18. We talked about the bill and the legislative maneuvering involved in more detail in this week’s preview. Since the preview, not only did the bill pass almost unanimously in the House, but the Senate passed it the same day by unanimous consent and the President signed it on Wednesday, November 19.

·         H.R. 1608: Department of Homeland Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2025, which would require a report on vehicular terrorism and methods of mitigating it, passed 400-15.

·         H.R. 2659: Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, which would establish an interagency task force and require a report on cyber resilience against state sponsored threats, passed 402-8. 

·         H.R. 4058: Enhancing Stakeholder Support and Outreach for Preparedness Grants Act, which would direct the Department of Homeland Security to extend stakeholder support and outreach for applicants and recipients of preparedness grants, passed 380-45. 

·         H.R. 5214: District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025, which would require pre-trial and pre-conviction mandatory detention as well as mandatory cash bail in the District of Columbia, passed 237-179. This bill was in response to reforms made by local D.C. leaders in 2022.

·         H.R. 5107: Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act of 2025, which is another bill that would repeal reforms made by local D.C. leaders, passed 233-190

·         H.R. 3109: REFINER Act, which would direct the National Petroleum Council (an industry trade group which acts as an advisory council to the Department of Energy) to issue a report with respect to petrochemical refinery capacity in the United States, passed 230-176.

·         H.R. 1949: Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025, which would repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas, passed 217-188.

Regulation Nullifications

The last two of these three will now become law. The first still has to receive a vote in the Senate.

·         H.J.Res. 131: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision” passed 217-209.

·         H.J.Res. 130: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment” passed 214-212 on November 18. The Senate passed it 51-43 on November 20 and now it next goes to the President to be signed into law.

·         S.J.Res. 80: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision” passed 216-209. It next goes to the President to be signed into law.

Censures

Censures are one of the three ways Congress can police the behavior of members. The other two are expulsion (extremely rare) and investigation by the House Ethics Committee (more common than censures or expulsions). We’ll have more to say about the rapid increase this Congress in censure/censure-like resolutions in a separate post, but for now we’ll list the votes for this week. They do not go to the Senate since they are exclusively about House matters and are not legislation that becomes law.

·         H.Res. 878: Disapproving the behavior of Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García of Illinois, which does what it says, passed 236-183. Rep. Garciá chose to time his retirement announcement until after his preferred successor had submitted her own petition to get on the primary ballot and near the deadline for submitting petitions to be on the ballot. The end result is that his preferred successor is now the only person in the 2026 Democratic primary for his seat. This resolution was sponsored by fellow Democrat Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA3). Yes, this is unusual.

·         H.Res. 888: Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing failed 209-214. Plaskett did text with Epstein, who, she noted, was a constituent at the time. A slight majority of the House felt that this did not reflect discreditably on the House, or at least not so much to warrant a censure and removal from committee memberships. This resolution was sponsored by Rep. Norman (R-SC5). Del. Plaskett is a Democrat, so a Republican sponsoring a censure is usual. Or it would be if it weren't one of a rash of them just this week.

·         H.Res. 893: Censuring Representative Cory Mills of Florida and removing him from the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs was converted to a motion to refer the allegations in the censure resolution to the House Ethics Committee and passed 310-103. Mills retains his committee memberships. Mills also already has been under investigation for different allegations for over a year. He further has an active restraining order against him as a direct result of an alleged and subsequently recanted assault on a woman in Washington, D.C. The censure resolution and new investigation rolls in the assault allegations as well as several campaign finance allegations. The Ethics Committee announced on November 19 that they are establishing an Investigative Subcommittee and will announce members soon. The censure resolution was sponsored by fellow Republican Rep. Mace (R-SC1). Yes, this is unusual.

Next Week

Both chambers of Congress are out for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return the week of December 1st.

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