Congress quickly finds way out of partial shutdown

On Tuesday, February 3, Congress approved a spending package that fully funded five out of the six remaining FY26 appropriations bills including Labor-Health and Human Services (LHHS), Transportation-Housing-Urban Development-Education (THUD), Defense, Financial Services-General Government, and National Security-Department of State. The Homeland Security spending measure was separated from the other appropriations and temporarily funded by means of a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that expires on February 13, 2026. The House of Representatives managed to eventually pass the package with the CR by 217-214 vote before sending to the President’s desk for final approval, ending the second government shutdown in the span of four months. Now, Congress has a little less than two weeks for Republicans and Democrats to find common ground to fund the remaining fiscal year for Homeland or revert to kicking the can further down the road with another stopgap measure. As Congress finds a way to sort out the current dispute with the FY26 Homeland Security bill while simultaneously preparing for the FY27 appropriations season, it is worth pointing out that Congress has managed to pass 11 out of its 12 appropriations bills for FY26.

EPA announces new ‘Right to Repair’ guidance

On Monday, February 2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new guidance related to advancing producers and equipment owners’ rights to repair their own farm and other nonroad diesel equipment. EPA affirmed and clarified that the Clean Air Act (CAA) should support, not restrict, American’s ability to make repairs on their own repairs and that manufacturers can no longer use the CAA to justify limiting access to repair tools or software. It is worth noting that EPA’s guidance does not change the law, weaken emission standards, or reduce compliance obligations. You can read EPA’s released guidance here.

Klobuchar to jump in Minnesota governor race, leaving room for new Senate Ag Dem leadership

Towards the end of last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) officially announced her intent to run for governor of Minnesota after much speculation of her candidacy. She aims to succeed current Democratic Governor Tim Walz, who has already publicized that he will not seek re-election. Minnesota election laws do not prohibit a candidate from running for governor while already holding an elected office. Therefore, Sen. Klobuchar will not have to give up her seat in the Senate while running, which is not up for reelection until 2030. Notably, if Sen. Klobuchar were to win the gubernational election, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is likely to be the front runner for the top Democratic spot on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. This is largely because the three other Senators ahead of him in seniority, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), have announced their upcoming retirements from the Senate. Sen. Booker has already expressed interest and excitement in taking on the role within the Committee. During his time on the Committee, he has focused on increasing access to healthy foods, improving child nutrition, and preventing large scale agricultural concentration. He is a vegan and a strong supporter of animal welfare. He has been outspoken on many techniques used by the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to combat feral hogs, particularly aerial gunning. Sen. Booker has spoken against agricultural commodity checkoff programs, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), and meat packing plants.