Congress must Act by March 1 to Avert Partial Shutdown

Are we headed for a government shutdown?

Congress must reach a deal by Friday, March 1, to avert a partial shutdown of the federal government - four funding bills will expire just after midnight Friday night without a new deal, including funding for the USDA. As of Wednesday evening on February 28, Congressional leaders have indicated that they have reached a deal to extend the current funding deadlines to avert a shutdown. Congress will need to pass a short-term ‘continuing resolution’ to extend the funding deadlines.

Eight additional spending bills will expire on March 8 if Congress does not take action to renew them. The deal reached by Congress would extend the time for Congress to work on all 12 spending bills: to March 8 for half of them and March 22 for the rest.

Some readers may feel like reading this update is déjà vu. That’s because we have been through many similar scenarios over the past several months - Politico has dubbed this, “The Fourth Shutdown Showdown.”

How does a shutdown impact organic programs?

A partial shutdown would mean that USDA would be operating only with essential staff, and many activities would cease during the shutdown. The USDA National Organic Program is the agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing organic regulations, including the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule, which will be fully implemented and enforced starting on March 19, 2024. A shutdown, especially one that drags on, would be especially problematic for the National Organic Program as they work to oversee new organic rules that are just taking effect.

In addition, the lack of new spending legislation to fund the government is impeding Congress’s ability to move forward with Farm Bill legislation, which expired on September 30, 2023 and was then extended by Congress for a one year period. NOC and the organic community have many key priorities that we are urging Congress to include in the Farm Bill legislation to expand resources for organic agriculture, reduce barriers to organic certification, and strengthen organic integrity. The Organic Certification Cost Share Program is especially at risk without a new Farm Bill in 2024. This program is not automatically included if the Farm Bill is once again extended, so without Congressional action to renew the Farm Bill or include the program in a Farm Bill extension, the program would be without the necessary funding to operate 2025.