Washington Report – October 27, 2025

The federal government shutdown continues and there is no known timetable for when Congress may act to fully re-open the government;
The House of Representatives is on an indefinite 48-hour recall notice and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he does not plan to bring the House back until the Senate passes a CR to re-open and fund the government at FY25 levels through Nov. 21;
The shutdown means “non-essential” personnel and operations are not authorized to continue because FY26 appropriations bills have not been passed by Congress;
“Essential” employees continue working without pay and work in
- Services related to national security and public health, including military, law enforcement, border security, air traffic controllers, and Social Security
The full impact of the federal government shutdown will be determined by the duration of the shutdown, and is now in its fourth week;
The House passed a clean continuing resolution (CR) Sept. 19 to fully fund the government at current FY25 levels until Nov. 21, though 60 votes are needed for the Senate to pass the CR;
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has previously been enacted so funding from this law should not see a major disruption at the federal level though some programs may be slowed due to furloughed “non-essential” employees;
Follow APWA Government Affairs on X and LinkedIn for timely updates.

APWA President Vic Bianes and APWA CEO Scott Grayson have issued a statement urging members of both parties to work together to end the shutdown;
“This shutdown isn’t helping anyone. It’s threatening the delay of critical funding for emergency preparedness and response, the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and it is undermining the essential services public works professionals provide to communities across the nation,” they said in their emailed message;
For three consecutive days, APWA also urged lawmakers to return to the bargaining table via the APWA Government Affairs social media accounts, X and LinkedIn.

Climate Central, a nonprofit research group, has revived the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) inactive billion-dollar disaster database;
NOAA announced this past May that the web portal would no longer be updated. However, NOAA still has an archived version available that contains data and reports from 1980 through 2024;
Adam Smith, who led the program at NOAA for 15 years, will serve in the same capacity in overseeing the portal at Climate Central.