Government Affairs Insights on Floral

January 26, 2026

Congress Continues to Move FY26 Appropriations Ahead of Jan 30 Deadline

On January 22, the House of Representatives managed to pass the last sweep of annual appropriations bills for funding pertaining to Labor-Health and Human Services (LHHS), Transportation-Housing-Urban Development-Education (THUD), Defense, and Homeland Security. This feat seemed unlikely earlier in the week with all the recent controversy surrounding the Homeland bill and its jurisdiction to fund the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency. Lawmakers were able to split up the minibus package and advance the Homeland spending bill individually by a narrow margin of 220-207. Following that vote, the House voted to pass the more bipartisan spending measure that included LHHS, THUD and Defense by a 341-88 vote.

This comes after the House passed and sent to the Senate another two-bill minibus including FY26 funding for the Financial Services-General Government and National Security-Department of State (previously known as Department of State-Foreign Operations-Related Programs or SFOPS) on January 15. Once the Senate returns from recess the week of January 26, they are expected to take up and consider the six remaining annual appropriation measures in hopes of clearing and sending to the President’s desk for final approval before the impending January 30 funding deadline.

At the time of this writing, both congressional chambers have passed six final appropriations bills — including those for Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Mil-Con VA, CJS, Interior, and Energy-Water. The other six FY26 appropriations bills mentioned above still remain funded under the current continuing resolution (CR) that is set to expire at the end of this month.

USDA Announces New Slate of Political Appointees

On January 6, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a new slate of political appointments to service in several different roles within the agency. These include:

The Honorable Doug Hoelscher was appointed as Minister-Counselor at the International Food and Agriculture Organizations in Rome, Italy

Tate Bennett was appointed as Principal Deputy Chief of Staff

Hailey Ghee was appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations

Mireya Brogan was appointed as Chief of Staff for Risk Management Agency

Kayleigh Hurley was appointed as White House Liaison

USDA Announces New Research and Development Priorities

On December 30, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins released a Memorandum establishing new priorities for future Research and Development (RD) activities at USDA. The initiative emphasizes strengthening national security, safeguarding U.S. agriculture, and supporting American farmers and consumers by redirecting federal RD funding towards more targeted areas. RD funding will now focus on projects that increase profitability for farmers and ranchers, expand markets and created new uses for agricultural products, protect the integrity of American agriculture from invasive species, promote soil health for long term land productivity, and improve human health through precision nutrition and food quality. For more information, please see the official press release here.

USTR Holds Private Meetings with House and Senate on USCMA Review

On December 17, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jameison Greer spoke to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees in private meetings about its review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In July 2026, all three countries will participate in a joint review of the standing trade agreement. If all parties agree, the current USMCA will be renewed for another 16 years. Earlier this month, USTR held a 3-day hearing featuring testimony from various stakeholders regarding the overall functionality and value of the existing agreement. In a private meeting with Congressional leaders last week, Ambassador Greer briefed Congress on the outcomes from the hearing as well as on relevant updates as part of the USMCA review process. Some lawmakers expressed discontent as they were pushing for a written report in addition to an oral briefing. Ambassador Greer outlined country-specific priorities, such as Canadian dairy market access and rules-of-origins regulations and Mexican labor and environment laws, to name a few. Next steps in the process include continuing discussions and meetings with relevant stakeholders in the new year up until the three countries commence the formal USMCA review later in the summer of 2026. You can find the witness list and transcripts from the recently held USTR USMCA review hearing here.

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