Capital Update – For the Week Ending Nov. 14, 2025

Government Shutdown Ends; Farm Programs Resume

What happened: After a record-setting 43-day shutdown, the federal government opened for business after the Senate and House approved a short-term funding bill, which President Trump signed into law on Wednesday.

The legislation funds most federal agencies and their programs through Jan. 30, 2026. Three agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are funded through Sept. 30 – the end of the 2026 fiscal year. In USDA’s appropriations are funds to continue current 2018 Farm Bill programs for the next 10-plus months.

Congress failed to approve any of the 12 appropriations bills before the start of fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1, so many federal programs ceased, and the staff who administer them were temporarily laid off, including USDA Veterinary Services swine health staff and Agriculture Research Service staff. NPPC worked ahead of the shutdown to ensure the White House and USDA deem as “essential” the personnel who publish the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Market News, the twice-daily report that has information on livestock production, pricing, contracting for purchase, supply-and-demand conditions, and on which producers rely to make informed business decisions. The reports – and meat inspections – continued during the shutdown.

The House on Sept. 19 passed a “clean” – without extraneous provisions – continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running through Nov. 21, but the Senate 14 times failed to get the 60 votes necessary to pass it, with most Democrats holding out for including “ObamaCare” health subsidies and other spending priorities in the CR.

NPPC’s take: NPPC is pleased the federal government has reopened, funding USDA animal health programs and research to help keep herds healthy and safe. Collection, gathering, and reporting on data and information is necessary for producers to make agricultural market decisions.

After extensive work from NPPC, the FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act included language directing the USDA Secretary to provide a report on the impact of state statutes and regulations on food prices and industry consolidation within 180 days of the enactment of this Act. Through this, Congress is seeking to better understand the effects of California Prop. 12 on the U.S. farm economy. By securing USDA funding through fiscal year 2026, agriculture is safeguarded from the harmful impacts of another government shutdown during that period.

Why it matters: Keeping the government running and thereby funding agricultural programs is critical to pork producers’ operations, which rely on them for loans, disaster assistance, USDA’s Market News, and meat inspections, among other actions and programs administered by federal agencies.

Agricultural Producers to Finally Get Workable ‘WOTUS’ Rule

What happened: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue a revised Waters of the United States final rule soon, following the White House’s Office of Management and Budget release of the rule from regulatory review. NPPC expects this rule to be consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 interpretation of the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.

NPPC and the Waters Advocacy Coalition, of which NPPC is a member, in April asked EPA to revamp the Biden administration’s August 2023 WOTUS regulation that included jurisdictional features outside the Supreme Court’s definition and preamble language and guidance memoranda that made the rule overly broad, according to NPPC and WAC.

The high court in May 2023 limited EPA’s authority over waterways, holding that CWA waters “refers only to geographical features that are described in ordinary parlance as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes and to adjacent wetlands that are indistinguishable from those bodies of water due to a continuous surface connection.”

The Biden WOTUS rule included features with even a tenuous connection to covered waters, such as drains, ditches, stock ponds, and low spots on farmlands. That could have required CWA permits for routine agricultural activities near those features and subjected agricultural producers to civil and criminal penalties for violations of the rule.

NPPC’s take: NPPC is grateful to President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for delivering a WOTUS rule that recognizes that drainage features, ditches, remote ephemeral waterways, and wet spots or farmed wetlands in fields are not ‘navigable’ waters subject to EPA jurisdiction and restrictions.

Why it matters: The WOTUS rule spells out the limits of federal jurisdiction over waterways and wetlands under the CWA. For pork producers, the Trump administration rule will provide regulatory certainty and protection from frivolous lawsuits from activists.

Groups Ask Lawmakers to Support International Organizations

What happened: NPPC joined nearly two dozen agriculture and business groups in asking congressional lawmakers to continue U.S. engagement with and funding for several international organizations that set global standards and rules that affect supply chains, innovation, access to critical minerals, agricultural exports, and the ability of U.S. companies to compete on a level playing field.

The Trump administration has been reconsidering U.S. funding of various international organizations, limiting investments to those that help the United States maintain its global competitiveness (The agriculture and business organizations agree with the administration that many international institutions need to update their rules and procedures “to better address 21st century economic challenges” and return to their founding principles).

In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Vice Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA), the agriculture and business organizations urged support for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Labour Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and World Trade Organization, which “provide platforms where the United States can advance strategic priorities and prevent outcomes that would disadvantage American industry.”

Why it matters: Sustained U.S. involvement with these organizations, which depend on adequate funding, is vital to ensuring American priorities will shape the rules of the global economy.

“Without a strong U.S. voice in these institutions, there is a real risk that international policy norms could evolve in ways that conflict with U.S. priorities and create burdensome or misaligned obligations for American companies operating globally. U.S. government engagement ensures these frameworks reflect good scientific input and reject political or protectionist approaches,” the groups said.

Look Ahead: NPPC at NAFB ‘Trade Talk’

NPPC will participate in the annual Trade Talk event at the 82nd National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri. The event connects agriculture broadcasters, industry leaders, and students to discuss critical issues and topics affecting American farmers and producers.

NPPC’s team of subject matter experts, which includes pork state organization leaders, pork producers and NPPC staff, will address the latest policy priorities on animal health, commerce and production, environment and energy, and international trade.