Enacted
Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026
This measure prevents a government shutdown by funding federal agencies through January 30, 2026, while protecting civil service employees by prohibiting layoffs and reinstating anyone cut after September 2025 with back pay. It keeps critical services running by extending Medicare telehealth flexibilities, community health center grants, farm support programs, and housing assistance for homeless veterans. The law also tightens federal regulations on the cannabis market by excluding synthetic cannabinoids from the legal definition of hemp and capping total THC in consumer hemp products at 0.4 milligrams per package. In addition, it freezes congressional pay, funds military barracks and childcare construction, and phases out Department of Veterans Affairs testing on dogs, cats, and primates by September 2026.
People affected—not determinable from the text provided
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided
Reach78provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Spending vs. restraint+30Market protections−20Substance use & mental health+40Veterans' care delivery+40Government role in coverage+35Firearms−30Animal protection+35Military budget+20Farm policy & subsidies+35Response to homelessness+40Security vs. privacy+15SNAP & nutrition+25Drugs & enforcement−45
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- House Members who are licensed physicians or dentistsPermitted to provide direct patient medical or dental care and receive compensation without violating statutory fiduciary gift restrictions.
- Surviving heirs and spouses of deceased RepresentativesDirectly allocated $174,000 each in death benefit payments.
- Veterans facing mortgage defaultEligible to receive financial assistance under the reauthorized and reformed VA Partial Claim Program to address default and avoid foreclosure on VA-guaranteed mortgages.
- Federal civilian employeesReceives continued funding through January 30, 2026, protections against furloughs via administrative cuts, guaranteed full back pay for funding lapses, and a prohibition on reductions in force with reinstatement of any laid-off workers.
- States and federal program granteesReimbursed with interest by the federal government for non-federal funds used to keep federal programs operating or pay furloughed staff during a lapse in appropriations.
- SNAP recipientsGuaranteed continuation of program operations and mandatory payment rates through January 30, 2026, to prevent disruption of benefits.
- Domestic iron and steel manufacturersBenefit from a requirement that all iron and steel products used in USDA-funded rural water and waste disposal construction projects must be produced in the United States.
- Growers and handlers of wine grapes, hops, pulse crops, and almondsExempted from FDA produce safety agricultural water standards and enforcement rules.
- Veterans with service-connected infertilityAuthorized to receive VA-funded assisted reproductive technology (in vitro fertilization) and adoption expense reimbursements for service-connected infertility.
- Veterans assigned financial fiduciariesVA is prohibited from reporting individuals assigned a fiduciary to the national firearms background check system as mental defectives without a judicial finding of danger.
- Rural and Medicare-dependent hospitalsPayment boost adjustments, low-volume hospital add-ons, and Medicare-dependent hospital programs are extended through January 30, 2026.
- Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH)Statutory reductions to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital allotments are delayed from taking effect until January 31, 2026.
- WIC participantsReceives increased maximum monthly fluid milk allocations across multiple WIC food packages for fiscal year 2026.
Who it burdens
- Department of DefenseProhibited from initiating new production items, increasing production rates above FY2025 levels, or entering multi-year procurement contracts using advance procurement funds during the continuing resolution period.
- Meat, poultry, and egg processing facilitiesSubject to fees charged by USDA for meat, poultry, and egg inspection services conducted outside approved shifts or on federal holidays.
- Nonprofit institutions partnering with USDAIndirect administrative overhead cost rates on cooperative agreements with USDA are capped at a maximum of 10 percent.
- Over-the-counter monograph drug manufacturersAssessed annual facility fees and monograph order fees through fiscal year 2030 to fund FDA OTC monograph regulatory and review activities.
Who backs it
- Over-the-counter monograph drug manufacturersAssessed annual facility fees to finance the FDA's regulatory review and safety activities for over-the-counter monograph drugs through fiscal year 2030.
Who opposes it
- Members of CongressThe automatic annual cost-of-living pay adjustment for Members of Congress is blocked for fiscal year 2026.
- Manufacturers of synthetic or high-THC consumable hemp productsExcluded from the legal definition of hemp if products contain non-natural synthetic cannabinoids or exceed 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, restricting their lawful distribution.
- Blacklisted Chinese telecommunications and technology manufacturersProhibited from selling computers, printers, video surveillance, or telecommunications equipment to the House of Representatives, VA, and legislative branch agencies.