The federal government will not be shut down, at least not until September, thanks to a last minute (literally) passage of the stopgap funding bill in the Senate. The bill largely maintains government funding at levels set by the Biden presidency—calling for unspecified cuts of $13 billion from the previous year, which is a drop in the bucket compared with $1.7 trillion in total government spending. The most controversial element is a $485 million increase in the Immigration & Customs Service budget to administer the President’s broad deportation policy.  Other budget increases would go to veterans’ health care services and benefits and ratification of the National Defense Authorization Act signed by former President Biden, authorizing a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted troops.

Surprising to some, the bill also raises funding for nutritional assistance to mothers, infants and children by more than $500 million, and additional increased funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which supports low-income senior citizens.  The Food Safety and Inspection Service, which reviews meat and poultry processing plants, saw a budget increase.  One of the deeper cuts: the Army Corps of Engineers funding for projects to mitigate the impacts of hurricanes and floods was slashed by a whopping $1.4 billion.

The most interesting part of the bill is not what is in it, but what it continues. No U.S. President has the power to eliminate any government agency that Congress has passed into law, which means that between now and September, Congress has authorized and funded the full range of agencies that existed pre-election.

This article was written by an independent writer for Brewster Financial Planning LLC and is not intended as individualized legal or investment advice.