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Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 222-209 to advance a Senate-passed funding bill extending government funding through January 30, 2026. The package includes full-year appropriations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Veterans Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, military construction projects, and Congress itself, representing roughly 10 percent of total federal discretionary spending.
The shutdown, which began on October 1, marked the longest in U.S. history and stemmed from disagreements over how to resolve expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, an issue that remains unsettled. Without a long-term solution, lawmakers face the possibility of another partial government shutdown in January.
Impacts from the shutdown were felt across the economy. In the housing sector, the lapse in funding led to a pause in policy underwriting for the National Flood Insurance Program, which backs approximately 90 percent of all residential flood insurance policies. Other programs, including the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program that supports homeownership in rural communities, will also resume normal operations having paused loan approvals during the shutdown.
With just 79 days until the next funding deadline, Congress will now turn to advancing the remaining full-year appropriations bills. Throughout the shutdown, NLBMDA continued to meet with congressional offices as votes were held on several NLBMDA-priority bills, including the Fix Our Forests Act and the ROAD to Housing Act, two measures NLBMDA continues to advocate for passage ahead of the next appropriations impasse.
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