HR-5371-119
Became Public Law No: 119-37.
Sponsored by Tom Cole (R-OK)
What it does
This enacted law funds the federal government for fiscal year 2026 through a combination of a short-term continuing resolution (through January 30, 2026, at FY2025 spending rates) and full-year appropriations for Agriculture, the Legislative Branch, and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs. It also extends dozens of expiring programs in health care, agriculture, and veterans services, prohibits federal workforce reductions-in-force during the covered period, and reverses any RIF actions taken between October 1, 2025 and the date of enactment — requiring reinstatement and backpay for affected employees.
Who benefits
Federal employees protected from layoffs and reinstated with backpay. Veterans receiving VA health care, benefits, and housing assistance funded through the full-year VA appropriation. Farmers, rural communities, and agricultural businesses funded through the full-year Agriculture appropriation. Medicare, Medicaid, and public health program beneficiaries whose expiring coverage extensions are renewed. State and local governments and grantees reimbursed for costs incurred during any lapse in appropriations. Defense contractors and shipbuilders whose multi-year Navy and Air Force programs receive continued funding. Small businesses relying on SBA loan guarantees. Families receiving federal rental assistance (Section 8/HCV). Tribal communities receiving Indian Health Service funding. Heirs of three deceased Members of Congress receiving death gratuity payments.
Who is hurt
Agencies and programs not covered by the full-year appropriations titles, which remain under the more restrictive continuing resolution rate through January 30, 2026, creating budget uncertainty. Taxpayers who bear the cost of backpay obligations for reinstated employees. Executive branch agencies whose operational flexibility is constrained by the RIF prohibition and spending-rate caps. Defense programs seeking to initiate new activities or increase production rates above FY2025 levels, which are explicitly prohibited. Potential beneficiaries of new or expanded programs that cannot be initiated under a continuing resolution. Congressional budget process advocates who argue that recurring CRs undermine long-term fiscal planning.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that this law prevents a government shutdown that would have disrupted services for millions of Americans — including veterans, farmers, and low-income families — while providing full-year certainty for the most time-sensitive appropriations accounts. They contend the RIF prohibition and reinstatement provisions protect federal workers from workforce actions taken without proper congressional authorization during a funding gap, preserving the separation of powers principle that Congress — not the executive branch — controls federal spending and personnel levels.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that continuing resolutions perpetuate inefficient, status-quo spending by locking in prior-year funding levels rather than allowing Congress to make deliberate, updated fiscal choices — a pattern that has recurred for decades. They contend the RIF prohibition and mandatory reinstatement provisions represent an unusual congressional intrusion into executive branch personnel management, potentially constraining the President's constitutional authority to manage the federal workforce and raising separation-of-powers concerns about Congress directing specific employment outcomes.
Constitutional context
Congress's power of the purse under Article I, Section 9 (the Appropriations Clause) is the core constitutional basis for this law. The RIF prohibition and reinstatement mandate engage the separation of powers between Congress and the executive, touching on the President's Article II authority to manage executive branch personnel — an area where the boundaries are not fully resolved. Post-Loper Bright (2024), any agency rules implementing ambiguous provisions of this law would face independent judicial scrutiny rather than deference.
Checks and balances
Congress retains the power of the purse and gains direct control over executive personnel actions through the RIF prohibition; the executive branch retains implementation authority but is constrained by spending-rate caps, new-program restrictions, and the mandatory reinstatement requirement, with OMB required to report rescission lists to Appropriations Committees as an oversight check.
Historical precedent
Continuing resolutions are a routine feature of the modern federal budget process; Congress has passed CRs in lieu of full-year appropriations in most fiscal years since the 1970s, with the most recent prior example being the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (Public Law 119-4).