On November 12, federal lawmakers enacted a FY2025 continuing resolution (CR)—legislation to continue funding the federal government at existing spending levels through the end of January. The Senate initially passed the bill on a 60-40 tiebreaker vote, and then the House voted 222-209 to send it to President Trump’s desk for signature. The CR provides more time for Congress to finalize outstanding funding negotiations for the remainder of FY2026, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025 through Sep. 30, 2026.

After six weeks of heated debate, these developments marked the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The Senate filibuster was broken when 8 Democrats ceded some of their party’s demands and crossed over the aisle to join 52 Republicans in voting for the bill. In the House, two Republicans voted against the bill while six Democrats voted in favor of it. The bill does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of this year, which Democrats had argued were needed to avoid major increases in health insurance premiums for Americans. Majority Leader Thune committed to holding a vote on this issue in the first half of December, with Democrats having final say over the content of the bill. The bill does provide back pay for federal workers and returns those who were furloughed to work. It also imposes guardrails on any further furloughs through Jan. 30. 

The bill provides full-year funding (through September 2026 rather than January) for a handful of programs where negotiations had already been completed: Military Construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and FDA, and Legislative Operations. This means that SNAP benefits (which are part of USDA) will now be funded through September 2026. Congress is expected to finalize and vote on a few additional programs in the next few weeks, including Energy and Water Development. 

Unfortunately, the legislation does not include an extension of the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs. CEBN has strongly advocated for a temporary extension while lawmakers continue to negotiate a longer-term reauthorization bill—currently held up over provisions regarding foreign influence and repeat award winners. We will continue to push Congressional leaders to reach a compromise and pass a reauthorization bill swiftly to avoid an ongoing, catastrophic lapse in these important programs.