Nov 18 Federal Government Reopens, While the Impacts Linger

(November 18, 2025)

The record-setting 43-day federal government shutdown ended the week of November 10, with some Democrats voting with Republicans across party lines in both the Senate and House, and the President signing the bill into law shortly after. The agreement includes a minibus and a continuing resolution (CR). The minibus – a legislative package that bundles several appropriations bills into one bill for a single vote – funds some appropriations bills for a year, while other appropriations, including Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations, for the CR are only extended until January 30.

What’s in the minibus?

The agreement includes three full-year appropriations bills for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 – the legislative branch, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Agriculture Department.

The Agriculture bill fully funds SNAP and WIC through the remainder of FY 2026. In addition to full funding for WIC for FY 26, the bill also continues current levels of WIC’s cash value benefit, which safeguards families’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Specifically, the bill includes $8.2 billion for WIC and refills the contingency fund at the pre-shutdown level of $150 million.

The Agriculture appropriations bill also includes $37.8 billion for Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program.

A few smaller WIC items that Allies for Children is keeping an eye on are also in the bill, including a provision that would require states to provide higher milk amounts for FY 2026 to align with the quantities in food packages prior to the new food package rule. This will impact the implementation of the new food packages. The new bill also requires the USDA to study a “Buy American” requirement for SNAP and WIC to determine feasibility. In 2024, a buy American rule was established for School Meals.

SNAP benefits will take awhile to be fully distributed for November in certain states, but PA officials say all benefits have been fully issued for the month as of Friday. Some states may take more time to issue benefits as their systems recover from the confusion over issuing SNAP benefits during the shutdown.

While the bill replenishes the SNAP contingency funds from the prior fiscal year, it does not provide enough funding to cover a full month of benefits in future years, nor does it include safeguards to ensure food assistance is provided even during shutdowns.

What’s in the Continuing Resolution (CR)?

While WIC and SNAP are fully funded for the year through the minibus, the CR extends funding at current levels for the other nine annual appropriations bills, including Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education, through January 30, 2026.

Congress must work to enact additional appropriations bills before that deadline of January 30 to prevent another shutdown. Senate appropriators say they aim to have another minibus ready for consideration by the full Senate as soon as next week.

What’s missing and what’s next?

One notable exclusion from the legislation are the enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care act, which were a major point of contention during the shutdown. Advocates say that the expiration of the tax credits will cause healthcare costs to rise significantly, making plans unaffordable, especially for families that participate in the ACA marketplace (Pennie in PA). The tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year, but the current Pennie open enrollment period makes it so families have to sign up for plans by December 15 to enroll for January 1 coverage. Therefore, families are currently “shopping” for plans and making decisions on their coverage throughout the next month. This means that families currently looking at plans are doing so under the current subsidy rates, which assume that the tax credits will expire at the end of the year – and many families are finding these new rates unaffordable. The Senate deadline to vote on the tax credits, which was agreed upon prior to the funding deal, is set for December 12, but there is no committed date in the House.

To advocate for issues related to the budget, see below:

• Ask the your Congresspeople to reverse HR 1 provisions related to SNAP here
• Learn about ways to support the extension of the ACA’s Enhanced Premium Tax Credits here