Washington Report – September 29, 2025

The current fiscal year ends tomorrow, Sept. 30, and as of the writing of today’s Washington Report, there is no agreement in Congress on a continuing resolution (CR) to fully fund the federal government and keep all government operations open;
President Trump will meet at the White House this afternoon with House and Senate Majority and Minority leaders to see if agreement can be reached and allow additional time for Congress to complete FY26 appropriations bills;
The House passed a clean CR last week that would fully fund the government at current levels until Nov. 21, though the Senate voted it down;
The House is not in session this week and, as of now, is not scheduled to return to D.C. until Oct. 6;
Follow APWA Government Affairs on X and LinkedIn for timely updates.

Since the APWA Washington Report last published, three U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) administrators were confirmed by the U.S. Senate;
The confirmed administrators:
- Sean McMaster, Federal Highway Admin (FHWA)
- Jonathan Morrison, National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. (NHTSA)
- Paul Roberti, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin. (PHMSA).

One of APWA’s key policy areas for transportation is safety;
A resource for public works on federal transportation safety focused programs and opportunities is the FHWA Highway Safety Programs webpage;
To receive tailored updates from FHWA on safety focused resources, click here.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure and Senate Environment and Public Works committees recently held oversight hearings with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) leadership;
During the hearings, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle and Lt. Gen. William Graham Jr., the agency’s Chief of Engineers, updated the status of specific projects and Congressional directives from the 2024 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA);
Asst. Secretary Telle announced the hiring of 100 new employees for USACE recreation facilities and a new policy to prioritize permitting for “energy-related and resource-related” projects
- He reiterated the goal of scaling back USACE activities to only those that are mission related
Lt. Gen. Graham discussed the importance of keeping projects on budget by having a near final design and plan for projects prior to asking for federal funding;
View a replay of the House hearing here and the Senate hearing here.

The Senate has confirmed Jess Kramer as the new Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Water;
Kramer previously served as Administrator Zeldin’s Senior Advisor and as water counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee;
During the first Trump administration, she was Senior Policy Counsel to the Assistant Administrator in the Office of Water and played a major role in the EPA’s strategy on “forever chemicals,” and she is expected to continue to prioritize this work in her new position and push for a “polluter pays” model.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) 2025 Cybersecurity Awareness Month web page is live;
The CISA web page includes a toolkit to help increase cybersecurity awareness and action;
The 2025 theme, “Building a Cyber Strong America,” highlights the importance of strengthening the nation’s infrastructure against cyber threats, while emphasizing resilience and security.