Federal Updates

Congress continues to advance FY2026 appropriations bills as we creep closer to the October 1 deadline when the new fiscal year starts. The White House has proposed a Continuing Resolution (CR) funding plan through January 31, however, top congressional appropriators would like the stopgap measure to expire in November or December.

On July 3, after a record-breaking almost 9-hour speech by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the US House of Representatives passed the Senate version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1) by a vote of 218 to 214 that included all Republicans voting for it except Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) due to the high cost of the bill and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) due to the severe Medicaid cuts.

The House passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (HR 1) that uses the budget reconciliation process to bypass Democratic opposition and now the Senate is crafting their version. The measure would make permanent lower tax rates from the 2017 tax law (PL 115-97) that expires at the end of the year and would add new tax breaks for seniors and tipped and overtime wages.

Last week was a culmination of across-the-board cuts totaling billions of dollars and tens of thousands of staff from agencies focused on health and safety, such as NIH, FDA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Today the Department of Health and Human Services is executing its plan to fire 10,000 employees along with job cuts in other agencies spanning government.

President Trump and the 119th Congressional leadership are signaling their plans and priorities. Tax cuts, tariffs, funding cuts and increases, vaccine scrutiny, shrinking government, pro-business regulatory reforms, end to DEI policies, and many more are among those topping the list.

Before leaving DC on September 27, Congress focused on bills that reinforce party messaging, which they believe will resonate with their base, while avoiding issues that could alienate their voters and put their candidates in contentious positions.